


The Hidden Life of Steve Rogers

by animealam, Black Dragon on the Rocks (animealam)



Series: Civil War, What Civil War? [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Adopted Harry Potter, Alternate Universe, Angst, Betrayal, Book 7: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Coulson's cameo appearance, Crossover, De-Aged Harry, Drama, F/M, Gen, Master of Death Harry, Not Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie) Compliant, Parent Steve, Protective Steve, Ron Hermione and Ginny betray Harry, SHIELD Compromised, Steve Feels, Steve Has Issues, Steve Rogers and the 21st Century, Steve Rogers is Not a Virgin, Steve looses trust in SHIELD, Trust Issues, Violence, Wizard Steve
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-30
Updated: 2015-10-20
Packaged: 2018-03-09 16:12:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 40,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3256250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/animealam/pseuds/animealam, https://archiveofourown.org/users/animealam/pseuds/Black%20Dragon%20on%20the%20Rocks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone assumes what they see of Captain America, is all there is of Steve Rogers. A man from the past who is transparent and incapable of telling a lie. But there has always been more to Steve than met the eye.</p><p>It was not that Steve could not lie, because he actually could if he truly needed it to protect those he cared about, or get himself a semblance of a private life. The 'thing' was, he did not like to tell untruths. Lying rubbed him the wrong way, and it always had, so as a rule he avoided lying. It was always much easier to let people assume what they will, not talk about his personal life, be evasive, or 'innocently' draw attention to something else.</p><p>Unfortunately SHIELD has been compromised from its very beginning, and some people inside have wanted Captain America out of the agency, without making him a martyr.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> > _**Autor Notes.-**_ This began as a plot bunny that would not leave me alone. I had just watched on DVD Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and went straight into reading Fanfiction about it. I found _[The Road Not Taken](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2463710)_ by [thegraytigress](http://archiveofourown.org/users/thegraytigress/pseuds/thegraytigress) and absolutely loved it (despite it not having a Kleenex alert, which it definitely should, as it made me cry… A lot).
>> 
>> I thought about reading more parent Steve fics, and there aren’t all that many. So I went ahead and decided I’d write my own, only… Well I had been listening to Pitbull and then a few of my followed Harry Potter stories updated… and this story was the end result.
>> 
>> This is only the first chapter, and a test to see if I should continue posting. I already have written nearly 17,000 words, and will probably keep on writing. The plan is to span all the way through _The Winter Soldier_ , but there will be no Avengers 2, or any of the comic timelines since I have not read them.
>> 
>> This story will hopefully end a Romanogers, even when it does not start that way. My stories tend to have a mind of their own and go where I had not intended them to. So we’ll see if this sticks to the plan.
>> 
>> It begins in between Avengers and Captain America: The Winter Soldier. I am using the timeline in the [Marvel Cinematic Universe on wikia](http://marvelcinematicuniverse.wikia.com/wiki/Timeline). As to the Harry Potter timeline everything gets moved a few years to make them match with the MCU. The Battle of Hogwarts takes place in May 2, 2009.
>> 
>> The chapters for this story will probably vary a lot in lenght, as for some reason it came out as one continuous work, so I’m cutting it where I think it fits better and not based on word count.
> 
> **Additional Note.- _This is a repost of the chapter I originally posted because I got a bit mixed up with my revisions and posted the previous one. It was missing a few things I’ll mention in later chapters, so please re-read it._**

His latest mission had been successful, but it had taken a little over four months of undercover work. This was actually a first for Steve, as unlike his previous jobs for SHIELD, he did not work with Natasha, Clint, or the STRIKE team; for once all the planning, and executing of the mission was left for him to take care of.

Usually he was the one taking care of the tactical planning in all missions he was involved, but if there was some undercover work, either Natasha, Clint, or someone else within SHIELD provided them with identities, backgrounds, and whatever else was necessary to complete the mission.

This time almost everything, but the birth place of the cover he would use was left to him. Steve did have a couple of Italian SHIELD contacts (officially SHIELD did not have ‘offices’ anywhere but the USA. Truth was the agency was present in just about every country).

The two agents were the ones who discovered the problem in the first place. It was them who gave him a short induction on what they had found about his target, but unfortunately neither had had any luck inserting themselves into the target’s Organization.

The Italians provided him with the pertinent IDs, and ensured the background for his identity would pass a basic check. Anything too thorough would reveal he was not who he claimed to be, but that was to be expected in any but the deepest undercover works, the kinds which took years. The two italian SHIELD agents were also to provide the usual backup should it become necessary, but it had been essentially a solo job.

Perhaps it was Fury’s way to test how well he had adapted to the new century and the work of a spy, although he had always told SHIELD’s Director he was more of a soldier; and Steve thought Fury had understood his position. The Director had actually told him he did.

It was no secret Steve was not quite comfortable in the role of a spy, and he rather avoid any mission where he had to play a part for too long. It seemed Fury thought he could still make a spy out of him, judging from the mission.

Or maybe the Director just wanted Steve out of SHIELD once and for all. They sure had done very little since they found him in the ice to convince him to stay. Of course being the master manipulator that he was, Fury probably wanted it to be Steve who quit his association with them. It would be bad PR if SHIELD ‘fired’ Captain America for a conflict of interests.

It had started to become increasingly obvious, he was not quite what SHIELD expected, or needed him to be. More than once the Director told him his morals and views of the world did not fit with the organization, and the way the world was now. They were in conflict at times. On those occasions Fury had suggested he needed to adjust his view of the world, but Steve had not felt it necessary.

The last mission almost seemed designed to push at all his buttons, to get him to the point uncomfortable did not even begin to cover how he felt about it. Frankly he almost went AWOL when he was informed of the mission. The following shouting match with Manning (who was his handler) was epic.

Or perhaps the one eyed meddler simply wanted to have a laugh at seeing him utterly fail. A way to prove him right that Steve was not good enough to pull such a mission through, or handle everything they threw at him. Manning had more than hinted about it during their ‘discussion’. His personal and professional pride got badly stung. Never mind the fact the agent had also hit jackpot on some of his still lingering fears about living in the future.

It did not help Natasha usually teased him of his inability to lie. It was not that Steve could not lie, because he actually could if he truly needed it to protect those he cared about, or get himself a semblance of a private life. The ‘thing’ was, he did not like to tell untruths. Lying rubbed him the wrong way, and it always had, so as a rule he avoided lying. It was always much easier to let people assume what they will, not talk about his personal life, be evasive, or ‘innocently’ draw attention to something else.

Well, if this was for laughs, the one laughing had been Steve after all. If it was about his skill set, well, he proved them wrong. Despite how uncomfortable he had felt, how utterly it compromised who and what he was, Steve had gritted his teeth, and pulled the mission through without anyone from SHIELD intervening. But his already dwindling trust in the agency diminished even more.

* * *

His target was an Italian group of arms dealers working with very sophisticated, and yet old weapons. Somehow they had found a previously undiscovered HYDRA weapons cache and manufacture plant. Steve did wonder how no one else knew about it before. From the files he read, all HYDRA members had either been captured and questioned, or killed. Either they were lied to, or they did not get all of HYDRA.

The later was a thought fit to bring him nightmares.

The leader of the group (which shockingly consisted of a surprising number of females) was a woman named Domenica Bastieri, and their operations were run from the male stripper club she owned. Bastieri’s Ragazzos. His mission was to infiltrate the club, get to Bastieri, and obtain the location of the plant. If possible he was to get their buyers list, as well as to stop the weapons production.

The job was more suited for Natasha’s skill set, as Bastieri was a feminist and the men around her were either brawn or eye candy. The spy would have been perfect to infiltrate the organization as a woman wanting better options in a still male dominated world, or something of the sort.

There was only one option for him, and brawn was not it, since it would not get him close to Bastieri or any means of getting the necessary information. Steve knew both Natasha and Clint would have probably laughed till they cried, and he cringed at the ribbing he would get from Stark if he ever found out about it.

Steve could not deny hating the idea, and Manning for choosing him for the mission. He preferred to be fully clothed when facing a crowd of drunk women as it was, unfortunately, not a new experience for him. He did have to travel across the country, and the bases in Europe, for a few months with the USO girls after all.

Besides he was not the naive, pure, and virginal guy they believed him to be, as certain things had been around since the dawn of mankind, and he was no saint. They had just not been openly spoken about in his time, and he was not comfortable speaking about something so personal.

Those who knew him now tended to forget he was raised in the times of the Depression. Back then people sometimes did whatever they had to do to get some food on the table for their families, and he had not thought any less of them.

Then he would have to remind them he had travelled with thirty show girls for a few months, and those broads had been more open minded than modern people would give them credit for. They were not about to pass the oportunity to have a go at the shy, and naive looking, kid in thighs, and since he was no monk, they had taught him more than a thing or two.

Then there was also the fact he was in the army, and actually fought in a war, once he proved himself to Colonel Phillips. He had seen and done a lot of things he was not proud of. There was nothing glorious about war, and when the battles were over, Steve got to see and experience the seedy side of things. Then there were the things he learnt after he was brought out of the ice, most of which SHIELD had not taught him.

Steve knew SHIELD kept an eye on him, and was even aware his appartment was bugged, but he learnt to evade them to keep his privacy; to protect the friends he had managed to make without the agency’s monitoring and approval. Which was ironic really, since SHIELD had not done much for him after they took him out of the ice and thawed him.

 

> _Back then Steve managed to make a friend, and with her came others. Her name was Dana Rose Williams. She was in her forty’s, was as smart as Stark, and probably just as wealthy, but unlike the flashy billionaire, Dana hated being in the spotlight with a passion. Not that she could always avoid it, but she tried hard._
> 
> _It was Dana who taught him how to use a computer, a smartphone, and the microwave, amongst other things. She thoughtfully introduced him to a lot of things he had missed while trapped in the ice. She made a list of selections of what he should know about each year he was trapped. Things like history, news, music, sports, movies, inventions, some politics, fashion, and even showbiz gossip._
> 
> _Dana had sat with him to watch or listen to them, explain if he had doubts, or answer any question he had. She chose only the most remarkable things, like a top ten list -although sometimes there were more, or less items- which gave him a better idea how everything had slowly reached the point they had when he awoke from the ice. It was also Dana who made the first suggestions for his ‘things-to-see-hear-or-learn’ notebook. Things he could do on his own, or with friends if he wanted._
> 
> _She was incredibly good with technology and biochemistry, even passionate about it. A bit like Stark actually, although he had gotten chased all over her property with a paintball gun for daring to say it. She was one damned good shot, and he had ended covered in neon green paint._
> 
> _Dana had even provided him with a SHIELD proof phone. She would rather keep their friendship out of the agency’s radar, and he agreed. Williams Enterprises was one of SHIELD’s main contractors after all._
> 
> _When they met, it had been only four days after awakening in the ‘wrong’ century, and for some inexplicable reason SHIELD had set him loose on his own in New York City. Agent Manning only gave him the clothes on his back, a smartphone, an ATM card, and told him they had got him an appartment; the address was in the phone’s contact list. Manning had not even bothered to provide him with an ID, or explained how to use either the card or phone._
> 
> _Dana, and Damon Johnson (her chief of security), had rescued him from the streets when he was about to enter survival mode and his PTSD was wrecking havoc with him. SHIELD’s people tended to forget he was human under his enhanced body, and he had (at least in his mind) just been in a war the previous week._
> 
> _The last he remembered was making the ultimate sacrifice asked of a soldier for his country, only to find he had not only managed to survive against all odds, but also had lost sixty-seven years of his life trapped in the ice. Steve, like a good many soldiers, had issues. A lot of them, since he had lost everything and everyone he knew._
> 
> _Dana had healed him because he had got himself run over by a bus, and hit by a couple of cars in those four days before he met her. He had been so disoriented, confused, and scared. Terrified was probably more accurate, as nothing he saw or heard was quite familiar, and everything was so bright and loud._
> 
> _Dana fed him, clothed him, provided him with a safe place to rest, and took the time to get him back to himself. She got him an identity he could be anonymous in, and which did not require any explanations about how and why he was ninety something and did not look it. Then she explained what the ATM card (which only had three hundred dollars in it) was, and how to use it, and the smartphone._
> 
> _The only thing she asked in return, when he asked, was for him to partner with her in the ballroom dancing lessons she was about to take. One of the things on her list of_ ‘Things to do before she died’. _Something Dana made a few years back when she was diagnosed with cancer. It was in remision, and had been for some time, but Dana still kept her list and tried to do, or see all she had added to it._
> 
> _She was a big ‘girl’, at six feet; and he called her voluptuous while she simply said she was ‘plump’. She did not fit the modern standards of beauty, but dames in his time had more curves to them than 21st century ones. Even Peggy had been nowhere near as slim as women these days, although she was considered slender back then._
> 
> _Dana needed a tall, strong partner. Damon was, but he insisted he had two left feet and his wife of nearly twenty years had yet to be able to teach him to dance. Steve agreed to attend the lessons with Dana. It was very little she asked in exchange for the great help, and the friendship, she provided to him._
> 
> _He did not know how to dance, so it would be an interesting experience. The rest was history as they said, because he was actually very good at it; a surprise for a man his size. Latin rhythms, then jazz had followed those first lessons._
> 
> _Despite his size, the serum made him quite flexible, and granted him amazing control over his body, so learning to dance was not too different from learning fighting techniques and martial arts._

* * *

Dana had listened to his concerns, and objections to the mission. She was his sounding board, without revealing the full nature of it to her, and simply let him come to terms with what he wanted to do and why. Whatever he chose, she would support his decision, whether he quit SHIELD, or remained working with them.

A good part of his reasons to go ahead despite his reservations were the HYDRA weapons, as he simply did not want them available for every criminal and terrorist who could afford them. But there was also the fact his professional pride had been badly stung, as well as his usefulness to the world.

Once Steve had finally decided he was to go ahead, Manning gave him two weeks to get ready before he was flown to SHIELD offices in Rome. Steve began his planning as well as preparing, both physically and mentally for the role he would have to play.

 

> _When he worked for the USO Steve had had a crash course in acting, something that was never mentioned. If he had not been coached he probably would have been even worse than he believed he was. The shows had required a bit of acting to pull them off, then there were the movies he made._
> 
> _When he began, people actually thought he was a bulked up actor hired to play the role of Captain America 24/7 for morale purposes. Back then there had been no mention of the Super Soldier Serum, at least not initially._
> 
> _The first movie Steve made was awful; well all of them were in his opinion and he would have been happier if none of them had survived to the 21st century, which they did unfortunately. His acting had been stiffer than cardboard. But the other ones were not as bad (acting wise) as he did improve._
> 
> _Steve could act, it just took a lot of effort to get himself in the right frame of mind for it, acting was not natural for him. It was mostly because he really did not like it. The acting had also helped on all those functions he had to attend, which he hated with a passion and made him feel more like a trained monkey than the shows._
> 
> _Unfortunately his job for the USO was to sell war bonds, and for that Steve had had to act like the confident and experienced soldier he had not been allowed to be. While he did not like it, Steve was quite good at putting on the charm when he needed to get the wives of wealthy men to start buying. Perhaps that was where his naive, and virginal fame came from, because he never accepted their propositions despite being advised by some higher ups to accept if it brought more money._

* * *

Dana had offered as much moral support as he needed. She also did her best to boost his confidence, as well as help to allay some of his doubts about being able to lie his way convincingly. She believed he could keep the act he needed to complete his mission, even if it would be very hard for him.

The dancing he learnt thanks to his girl had helped Steve immensely. Dana had also assisted in choreographing several of his presentations before he left. Since they did not know how long he would be away, the rest of the choreographies were up to him, and from the response he got at the club Steve knew he did not do too bad.

Dana had also helped him with his looks, as he could not present himself looking like Captain America. She was a muggle born witch and they had means to change their appearance which needed a counter for them to revert. He had changed his body hair colour to black, grew his hair past his shoulders, got one ear pierced (oh she had had way too much fun with that transformation), and wore several days of stubble. Dana seemed to think he looked dead sexy like that.

He had not been able to grow a beard before the serum, and even after it took longer to grow than it usually did for other men. But the potions Dana provided worked, thanks to another potion she created to get his metabolism to ignore them. In a way Steve looked very similar to the alias he had been using practically since he met Dana. The only differences were the darker long hair, the stubble, and the earring.

 

> _Magic had not been new to him, with the level of clearance Steve had had during the war, he had learnt about it and come in contact with it. There were several witches and wizards involved in the war against Germany since one of their own had joined Hitler, and they suspected Gellert Grindelwald was also working at some point with Johann Schmidt._

When he arrived to Italy, it took little time for his contacts in Torino to get him the necessary documents identifying him as Stefano Martello age 22, from Napoli. Stefano Martello had actually existed back in his time. He had been the eldest son of his neighbours who had worked at the Empire State’s construction, and had died when Steve was nine after a serious accident at work left him with an infection he was not able to fight. Stefano was the one who taught him Italian, and he had been born in Naples like the rest of his family.

With an identity established, Stefano only had to find himself a place to live, and get himself an audition at Bastieri’s Ragazzos. He had the portfolio of an aspiring model/actor/singer (Dana and Adelle -her AI- took care of helping him with that), who had not had much luck in Rome, and needed to make ends meet.

He spoke fluent Italian with a Neapolitan accent and it was something which helped him immensely to blend in, as it was actually a requisite for the mission to work. Steve was not sure if SHIELD had chosen that city because they actually knew he spoke Italian (which he doubted), or it was a huge coincidence (which was most probably the case).

The fact he spoke other languages besides French (which Jaques had insisted all the commandoes learnt) was not in his file as far as Steve knew. He actually spoke nine others besides English, a good number of which he learnt in Brooklin from several neighbours who were immigrants and did not speak their new home’s language. Teaching English had provided Steve with some income which did not require exhausting work. Besides he had always learnt other languages easily.

He auditioned for Bastieri’s Ragazzos, and was immediately hired by Domenica herself. Dana had assured him it would be the case, but Steve had not been so sure. He still had lingering self esteem issues from when he had been a sick and runty guy. He owed her twenty bucks and dinner because she had been right.

It had been a truly hard mission for him, as Steve had to practically put all he was in the back of his mind to be able to get into Domenica’s good graces. But he managed, got the job done, and provided his contacts with the information they needed on Domenica’s organization. There had been more of it than previously believed, and it was not only weapons they were dealing with, but drugs as well.

Steve had not earned the right to visit the plant, despite managing to break into Domenica’s computers, a feat in and of itself since Steve did not consider himself a computer wiz. Far from it, but Dana and Adelled had taught him a fair bit since he met them.

In his opinion it was enough to get by, nothing like Stark’s genius, or even Natasha, who was quite good but not to the billionaire’s level. It helped Steve did have more brains than people gave him credit for, and having perfect recall was a huge bonus.

Domenica had a much younger brother, Bruno, who was actually the one who found HYDRA’s plant and weapons. He was also the one who figured out how to make everything work. The boy was a surprisingly brilliant teenager who had even started designing his own Tesseract powered robots and machines. But Bruno felt isolated, and he did not agree with what Domenica was doing. He was actually a pacifist.

Stefano had befriended the lonely boy. He taught Bruno a some basic martial arts, and listened to the technical babbling he tended to get into, and which eveyone including his sister ignored. Bruno used Stefano as a sounding board, and he had quite a lot of experience doing that. Stark, Banner, and Dana did it all the time when an idea got hold of their minds.

So Stefano listened and asked questions, no matter how stupid, when he felt the boy was stuck on an idea or concept, much like he did with the others; it usually worked getting them unstuck. His friendship with Bruno got Stefano access to the plant. He put a good word for him with his Italian contacts after he was finished with the mission, and last he knew SHIELD was going to hire Bruno to work at their R&D Department.

Steve had got the information SHIELD wanted on the buyers, as some weapons had already left the plant, then destroyed it. It had not been in his mission instructions, but he was not about to leave a way to make HYDRA weapons in anyone’s hands. Not even SHIELD’s. Phase two back during the Tesseract crisis proved to him neither they, nor the World Security Council, were to be fully trusted with those types of weapons.


	2. Chapter 01

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> >  
>> 
>> _**Author Notes.-** First of all. I was not quite happy with chapter one, so I went back to check it and realized I had posted a prior version of it. It was missing about 500 words. I apologise for the confusion, so please re-read it, as on a later chapter (which I already have written) some things are mentioned._
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> _I decided I was going to go ahead and post what I have already written once a week. I don’t really like to condition a chapter for reviews, but they do give us authors at least an idea of how we’re doing with the writing. So drop me a word (or in AO3 at least some Kudos) to know whether you’re liking it or not._
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> _I also want to point out that watching the YouTube Honest Trailer for Captain America: The Winter Soldier was also part of what got my muse going for the story. Their nitpicking (besides being hilarious) pointed out some plot holes the muse insists we try and fill in (without having to read the comics). You’ll be the judges whether we manage or not._
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> _I think a bit of information on the timeline will make things clearer. First of all sorry, I got the date I wanted for the Battle of Hogwarts mixed up in the author notes. You'll find the timeline at the end of the chapter to avoid any spoilers._  
> 

Steve’s handler, Isaac Manning, had definitely not been pleased with the HYDRA plant’s destruction, judging by the messages clogging his SHIELD’s phone. Steve supposed it was also due to the fact he only e-mailed his reports, which he wrote on his tablet while en route back to DC from Italy, and because he refused to attend the debriefing until he got some rest.

He would rather avoid seeing Manning for as long as humanly possible. Steve was still very angry with him because of the mission, even if it was a success. If the idiot began ranting, Steve would probably end throwing him out of the man’s office window, and it was on the 39th floor of the Triskelion, or quitting SHIELD. He did have more options now than he did when he was first awakened.

He was mentally and emotionally wrung out from pretending to be someone he was not, and for going against himself at times to get the mission completed. He truly needed a break. Steve was NOT a SHIELD agent, he was a consultant or supposed to be at least, and it was time to start reminding them of the fact.

With the mission over he only wanted to have a shower, get a few changes of clothes, then drop off the radar and go to Dana´s place, where he could grab a decent meal. Dana could not cook to save her life, but Marina (her house keeper) made the most wonderful enchiladas. A dozen of them would be quite filling, since he was starving as he had not eaten in a few days.

The cabin, as her home was called, was anything but that. It was a large property outside of Alexandria surrounded by woods, and it provided a very private and peaceful place to live. The property was also magically protected and under something called the _Fidelius Charm_ , so not even SHIELD could find it. Unfortunately he needed to make a stop at the Triskelion for the debriefing with Manning.

Getting alone time with his lover would have to wait until his duty was discharge, but this time he was taking at least a two weeks vacation. He had missed her very much. His and Dana´s relationship was a closely guarded secret more for her protection and privacy than his own, at least on his side.

For her part, Dana insisted it would not be good PR for Captain America to be dating someone like her, both of them were high profile people, and had their own enemies. Steve also doubted SHIELD´s public relations office would approve of Captain America dating a much older woman, not that he gave a damn what they thought, specially if said woman was on occasion as much a pain in the neck to Fury than her recent competitor, Tony Stark.

> _Steve remembered one of the creeps at SHIELD’s PR office actually had the gall to tell him what type of woman he was expected to date (blonde and virginal). How he was expected to court her, how to conduct himself with her on public dates, and the lenght of said courtship._
> 
> _Not only that, Steve was also told what kind of engagement ring he should buy said woman, what type of wedding ceremony (civil only, and with a pre-nuptial agreement), and the PR office would plan the massive party he should have, where he was supposed to live, and even how many kids he was expected to have. Two, one of each. As far as he knew there was still no way to select the gender of an unborn child._
> 
> _Also, did the creepy fat-head not know he was of Irish Catholic descent? Everyone else did. It was not only in his file, but also in just about every biography of him available, and even in the Smithsonian’s exhibit for crying out loud! So if, when, Steve married it would be by both laws._
> 
> _According to the jerk, Steve was supposed to inform them of everything he did so the PR office made the appropiate statements. They would also take care of press conferences, releases, and photo shoots. Steve had been so astounded and horrified at hearing the idiot’s words that for a moment he was speachless._
> 
> _Then anger got the better of him, and he almost flipped his wig. Steve proceeded to tell the stupid jerk in his best Captain issuing orders voice (the one his men knew better than to disobey or there would be dire consequences), what to do with all his fucking (yes, he actually swore, something he rarely ever did) demands on his private life. This was after leaving two palm sized imprints on the man’s metal desktop when he planted them on it, and leaned menacingly before the idiot._
> 
> _Last he heard that particular creep no longer worked at SHIELD, and those who remained had desisted of their mistaken ideas on making him SHIELD’s poster boy (or trained monkey). The decided it was safer for them to leave Captain America in peace._

* * *

Thirty minutes after he arrived to his appartment Steve was ready to go. His SHIELD phone rang, and he almost did not check it. The call did not go through, and moments later there was another call which also did not get through, it was then followed by a message.

_{Are you back? Perhaps we can meet for coffee later, Adelle.}_

Alarms went off in Steve’s mind, the two incomplete calls, and Adelle’s message was Dana’s secret code to contact him. Adelle was her AI (much like Stark’s JARVIS). They would never call his SHIELD’s phone unless it was an emergency because they knew it could be tracked back to them. He got his personal cell phone and dialled Adelle’s private line.

“Father,” the AI had taken to calling him that after he and Dana progressed from being friends to lovers.

Steve did not understand exactly what Dana had done for Adelle to be more self aware. Dana told him she had certainly not added anything to her code to make the AI call her mother, which she did because Dana was her creator. Steve found it all very odd but he did not mind. He liked the AI’s personality quite a bit.

“What’s wrong Adelle? I know neither you nor Dana would have used my SHIELD phone without good reason.” He could not keep the worry from his voice.

“Mother was hospitalized early this morning,” the AI began.

“Why? Was she in an accident? Or… was there another attempted kidnapping?” There had been a few through the years, hence the tight security around her, and the fact she was a very good shot.

“None of that father. Mother wanted to tell you this herself, but you were away longer than expected, and while you contacted her a couple times she did not want to risk your mission. She is pregnant,” he gasped, “and went into labor prematurely.”

“Is the baby mine? Forget it, stupid question, of course it is.” Steve’s voice shook with emotion. He knew she had not seen anyone since before she met him, and it was already over a year. This was so unexpected, Dana was told by doctors she was not able to conceive.

“Yes, the baby is yours father.” Adelle responded anyway. “The pregnancy was not an easy one on her father, at forty-five she is not a young woman. Frankly she initially thought it was menopause. The pregnancy was only discovered after you left and she went for her yearly check up.

“The doctor also found her cancer was back a bit more agressive than the previous time. Mother refused treatment because it would have harmed the baby girl.”

“What hospital is she in Adelle, and has the baby been born yet?” Change of plans, screw SHIELD’s debriefing.

“She is at Georgetown University Hospital because the NICU unit there is one of the best around father. I will send the coordinates to the phone’s GPS. The baby has not been born yet, and may I suggest you don the disguise you used for this last mission, and identify yourself by your alias?

“Mother being hospitalized will draw a lot of attention, and she does not want Captain America’s name to be marred by the scandal of a child out of wedlock. Unfortunately you are held to higher standards by society than modern men are. Although I still do not understand why, you’re as human as the rest of them.

“Plus the secret liason with an older woman, who happens to be one of SHIELD’s main providers of technology and chemical substances. This could lead to some nasty rumors about her contracts with SHIELD.

“Then there is the baby’s protection to be taken into consideration. Any child Captain America has will always draw attention because of the Super Soldier Serum Father. Some people will want to test her to see if she inherited it, including SHIELD.

“Then there is the fact you have made a few enemies in this time, on top of those Mother had. Miss Castillo believes this might end being a media circus, without getting Captain America into the mix.”

Steve sighed, Adelle was right, any children he had would be in the spotlight and in danger because of who he was and the serum. Many organizations, SHIELD included, would like to know if the child had inherited the serum as it was so completely linked to his DNA it had been impossible to separate them. Grant Parker Williams would have to be the one there instead of Steve Rogers.

“I haven’t taken the antidotes yet Adelle,” he informed the AI. “I’ll be there as soon as possible.” He went back to his bedroom, and took out the specially modified trunk where he stored anything about his alias.

Steve was not happy to keep hiding his relationship with Dana. He had missed her immensely during this last mission, and had actually been thinking about a more formal and open relationship. One where they could actually go out in public without wearing disguises.

He thought they could perhaps move in together and get married, although he knew Dana was not too keen on the later after her experiences. When she was twenty she almost married. But Dana caught her fiancé a day before the wedding in bed with his mistress. The idiot had only been after her money. Needless to say the wedding was cancelled, and she had avoided relationships for a very long time.

Dana knew Steve would never do anything like that to her. He did not care about her money, but the experience had scarred her. It did not help that creep had not been the only one who sought her out for her money throughout the years.

Steve still had the morals of a man of the 1940s, but relationships like his with Dana (a wealthy older woman with a younger man) were not a recent invention, far from it. Neither were unmarried couples living together, although most of the time they pretended to be to avoid… complications. So he had been able to live with it. Back in his time those relationships had simply not been public, or talked about much.

Then the realization he was going to be a father hit him like a freight train at full speed. The thought was… terrifying. He had wanted a family and children since… well the 1940s with Peggy. The Battle on the Valkyrie, the crash, and his subsequent frozen condition took that away from him.

He was still biologically young though, and could have had a family if he had sought someone else as Dana told him back when they were still only friends. Steve chose her instead, and accepted the fact she could not give him a child, and yet somehow they had managed to conceive.

He was happy, and at the same time afraid. Adelle had not told him much about Dana’s condition, but just by the fact she had not been treated he began fearing it was not good at all. Steve did not know what he would do if he lost her. He was not sure he could raise a child on his own, although he would do it, he was not a man who shrinked his responsibilities… SHIELD debriefing aside.

Steve called Adelle back, once he gave himself a few moments to think what he wanted to do, and asked the AI to make some arrangements for him. She had surprisingly anticipated what he wanted to do. In fact, Adelle told him she had expected he would want to change things with Dana when he returned, and had everything ready. Any documents he required would be at the hospital when he arrived.

* * *

Two and a half hours later Steven Grant Rogers was married to Dana Rose Williams, although there was another certificate for Grant Parker Williams, which would be the one made public should it be necessary. He had also finished the adoption papers for one Steven Henry Williams.

Henry was fourteen year old wizard Dana took in back in December. Mentally, he was truly twenty-two by then but under a new identity for his protection. He possed as a muggle born orphan, a refugee from the magical war in the _British Wizarding World_. He had met the boy the day he arrived from the United Kingdom, and they had gotten along very well. He was like a younger brother to him.

An hour later Sarah Rose Williams was born through a C-section. Steve had been present at the birth. Dana had wanted for the delivery to be natural, but her condition was weakening and the doctors deemed it too risky, never mind the fact she was seven weeks earlier. The OB/GYN in charge was concerned for the child’s health even when the previous examinations showed her growing well.

After Sarah was born the doctors were surprised she was actually in much better condition than what was expected of a premature baby. Her lungs were fully developed to their shock, and while she was still tiny it was clear she would not be spending much time, if at all at the NICU. The doctors could not explain it but decided to accept the miracle. Steve had an explanation though.

The Super Soldier Serum.

Sarah had clearly inherited it from him. It was something the scientists had speculated about, although as far as he knew it had been ruled out as a posibility. His child was proof it was possible. She would be in serious danger if anyone found out about it, so she had been registered as the daughter of Grant and Dana Williams. Steve had already suspected it might happen the moment he saw Harry, a teenage version of him with Dana’s dark blue eyes, and dark blond hair.

> _The boy had been very high profile, not only amongst the British wizards, but also the rest of the world. The once boy-who-lived, and Voldemort’s Vanquisher was bound to be. They had needed a way to change his looks in a more permanent way than simple spells and transformative potions, which could be temporary at best._
> 
> _They had decided to go with a_ Blood Adoption Potion _because it was permanent, and once taken it could not be detected. The potion took long to make, and it had not been ready when Steve left, but he had donated some of his blood for it. Harry had changed quite a bit._
> 
> _Harry had been an Auror back in Great Britain, and had been permanently_ De-Aged _during a raid. A combination of potions exploded as the Aurors duelled Dark Wizards in a lab. Much like Steve would have done, Harry protected his team with his body. Unfortunately he survived when the building collapsed on them, while half his team did not. For some reason the idiots there blamed him._
> 
> _There was no way to age Harry back, except the time consuming way, year by year. The Minister of Magic had smuggled the youth out of the country after faking his death, and his contacts (Damon’s wife was a relative) led him to Dana._
> 
> _Harry had been five feet five inches before the explosion, and lost four inches when he was_ De-Aged. _After he took the_ Blood Adoption Potion _he shot to five feet and seven inches. Since he was still developing and receiving the proper nutrition to grow up, Harry was bound to reach Steve’s six feet two inches, if not surpass them._
> 
> _The boy had also grown more muscular, like a well cared for athletic teenager his age. When Harry first arrived, he had been skin and bones, and his growth had been stunted. The sorry excuses for human beings who housed him since his parents' deaths were his relatives (although they did not deserve the title). They had neglected to properly feed him throughout his childhood._
> 
> _Harry also no longer needed glasses, and according to him he had been blind as a bat without them before. The kid told him he had not done anything to his eyes, although there were potions to heal them available in America that had not been available in the_ British Wizarding World.
> 
> _It was clear to Steve the serum was in his blood, and it had changed Harry more than expected; as it took care of any problems his body had had before the_ Blood Adoption Potion. _Much like it did with Steve’s. He had not asked Harry if his magic had changed as well, but there would be time later to study what the serum had done to the young wizard._

* * *

While little Sarah was healthy because of the serum, Dana did not fare well. Her condition deteriorated drastically. Not long after coming out of the Operating Room, she fell into a coma. The doctors did not expect her to wake up from it, which was kinder on her. The cancer had been very agressive, and it was a miracle she had been able to carry the child for thirty-three weeks.

Steve sat numbly in Dana’s ICU room, Harry by his side offering as much comfort as he could, having a very hard time processing the fact he had married Dana but she was dying. Not only that, but she had left almost everything to him and Sarah, while providing for Harry and her closest people.

He also had to raise an infant alone, and help a now teenage wizard (his _De-Aging_ had not only been physical, but emotional as well) who had several PSTD issues, remarkably like his own. This on top of the past four stressful months. It was too much, Super Soldier Serum aside, he was still only human.

At least he and Harry were not alone. Damon and Sandy, Dana’s Head of Security and Personal Assistant respectively, were with them and despite their own grief were taking care of things for him. Both considered Dana family, and had included him and later Harry into their tight knitted group. He had to sign a lot of papers before Dana had gone into the Operating Room, as she had prepared things in case the worst came to happen.

Steve had been called to the NICU to feed his daughter her first meal, even though she was in an incubator. He had not liked the fact he could not hold Sarah in his arms, like he had after she was born, but the doctors wanted to be cautious. They wanted her in observation until they were sure it was safe for her to be released. Doctor Conrad, her pediatrician, believed she could be released in a few days, perhaps as soon as three so he could take her home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _In this Universe, Harry Potter was born on July 31, 1991, so he’s 17 by the Battle of Hogwarts, which takes place on May 2, 2009. He becomes an Auror and is_ De-Aged _in mid November of 2012. He had been_ De-Age _to a thirteen year old._
> 
> _Steve was found in the ice on April 14 2012, and thawed by the 17, when he awoke. The_ Battle of New York _took place on May 4 of the same year accoding to the MCU Wikia Timeline (poor Steve really had very little time to assimilate what was going on around him). This story begins on October 28 2013, and from there it will lead into The Winter Soldier. My version of it anyway._


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _**Notes.-** The Italian translation can be blamed on Google Translate, so I’m not quite sure how bad off they might be. The Spanish one is entirely my own work as my mother tongue is Spanish. I added them only for a bit of effect, and if I use “other” languages in later chapters I’m probably not going to use the translator._
> 
>  
> 
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> 
> Disclaimer: These are not my characters, except for Dana, Damon, Adelle, and a few extras here and there. This is written for my own enjoyment (and hopefully that of the readers), and I'm not making any money for this story.

**Title: The Hidden Life of Steve Rogers**

**Author:** animealam/Black Dragon on the Rock

 **Rating:** T

 **Pairing:** Steve Rogers/OFC, Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanoff, Tony/Pepper, Thor/Jane

* * *

## Chapter 03

Since Steve arrived to the hospital, his SHIELD phone had been incessantly vibrating with messages from Manning, which he refused to answer. The man threatened with reporting him AWOL. Like he cared at the moment. Besides, it would not be the first time Steve went AWOL. He did that when he rescued Bucky, and all those soldiers prisoners at the HYDRA plant.

The messages had stopped for a while, only for the sender to change. This time it was Fury who was ordering him to report. Manning clearly went to the top, perhaps hoping Steve would bow to the Director’s authority. Highly unlikely at the moment. He was in no shape to deal with the one eyed spy, but Steve responded anyway in the vain hope he would be left alone.

 _{I’m taking a two months break.}_ Steve texted as he had no intention of being away from Dana, his newborn daughter, and his adopted son. 

Sarah would need him since her mother was unable to tend to her, and Harry was old enough to understand how dire Dana’s condition was. The teenage wizard would be loosing a second mother if she died, and it was sure to affect him even if he had not been Dana's son for long.

_{Rogers, report to my office for debriefing ASAP.}_

_{Manning already has my mission reports. No need for me to be there.}_ He responded. Steve was actually a very fast and accurate texter, lots of practice with Dana and later with Harry.

 _{To my office Rogers, or you will be suspended without pay.}_ Now that made Steve truly angry. How dare he?

 _{Pay? What fucking pay Fury?}_ As a rule, Steve avoided cussing, specially at his ‘supposed’ superior officers, but frankly he did not give a damn at the moment. He was too angry and too stressed to care.

 _{I’m NOT a SHIELD agent according to Human Resources.}_ He texted to the one eye spy. _{I’ve only ever received $300, and a rent free apartment in Brooklyn from SHIELD since you took me out of the ice.}_

_{I work as a volunteer, because it’s the right thing to do, not because it’s an actually paying job, so I have no obligations to SHIELD. I, in fact, survive out of my army pension.}_

_{If you want my reports so badly, get them from Manning. Don’t contact me in two months.}_

He let his anger, worry, and grief (because while she was not dead yet, the doctors gave no hope of Dana recovering) get the better of him, and texted Fury more than he would normally have said in any other situation. He turned the phone off, although Steve suspected Fury had already tracked him. Well he did not look like he normally did, it might take the one eyed spy more time to locate him… one could always wish.

As he expected, not long later a team of SHIELD agents came in search of him. What did surprised him was seeing Fury himself come into the NICU, using his phone to pin point his location. Steve frowned, he was not aware they were able to track him with the darned thing turned off.

Steve had been about to leave Sarah to stay by Dana’s side when he saw the one eyed Master spy stride into the unit. A part of him was actually gratified to see Fury falter in his steps, and for once display some emotion besides anger on his face. Steve had clearly shocked the man, whether it was his appearance, the fact he was with a newborn, or both was left to be decided. He was not pleased the spy zoomed in on him almost at once though.

“Rogers…” Fury sounded disconcerted for once.

Steve did not acknowledge SHIELD’s director, instead he looked at Harry who was coming to him from Dana’s room. His son’s presence got him a couple of blinks and a dumbfounded expression on the older man’s face.

The similarities between them were astounding, leaving no doubt they were related in some way. Unfortunately Nick Fury recovered too fast. If his world had not been crumbling around him, Steve would have thoroughly enjoyed breaking through Fury’s masks. As for Harry, the kid took only a moment to assess the situation and raised an eyebrow.

“I’ll stay with her Grant,” he stressed the name hoping the one eyed man got the hint and avoided calling Steve by his real name. “She’ll be OK, don’t worry,” Harry reassured him, placing a hand on his shoulder and giving a little squeeze. It was a small gesture but the older man nodded in gratitude. “Go take care of whatever it is, so you can come back to her side soon.”

Harry had noticed the many SHIELD agents who came with the Mad Eye Moody wanna be, and which got stationed outside of the ward. He recognized the man as Steve’s boss from the photos Adelle had showed him. Harry suspected they came to drag his new father away for some mission or other, but Steve should stay with his family. He was in no condition to focus his attention on anything but Dana and Sarah.

He was not about to allow those people to take him, or his new sister, so the young wizard took out a pair of drumsticks from his back pocket. They were actually disguised wands, and Harry began twirling them in his hands idly; none of which was the _Elder Wand_ because he did not like using it. He had gotten quite good at it. Surreptitiously and wandlessly Harry had also cast a _Protection Ward_ around the incubator.

Harry looked into Steve’s eyes and pushed into his mind. _< I’ve placed_ Wards _around Dana’s bed and Sarah’s incubator. If SHIELD tries anything they won’t be able to get through them. Don’t worry, they’ll be safe. >_ He had managed to learn _Legilimency_ after the war, and found out he could project his thoughts into other minds easily. Specially those he had touched before.

“Thanks Steve,” they had agreed shortly after he arrived to America Harry would be called by his new name. The others called him Junior if he was around, “it should not take long.” Steve understood Harry’s message and he felt relieved. The name made Fury blink, but he said nothing.

Harry would keep both his girls safe, specially Sarah as Damon was with Dana. The boy was not one of the most powerful wizards in the world for nothing, never mind he had defeated one of the worst Dark Lords of Wizarding history at the tender age of seventeen.

He had also been one of the best fighters the British Magical Law Enforcement Department had had in years. Should the SHIELD agents try something they would not know what hit them. His girls would be very safe under Harry’s protection.

He and the Captain had moved to a more secluded area where they could talk without being overheard. Then Nick asked. “So the baby is yours… Grant?”

Nick could take a hint, when it suited him, so he chose to use the name the boy clearly provided for him. The question was rethorical though. He could bet his eye patch collection the child was Rogers, why else would he be there in the first place? He was also intrigued about the teenager. He was nearly a clone of Rogers, and also named Steve. Who the hell was he, and why did he have a British accent?

As he looked at the Captain, Nick had to admit the only things that might mark the young man as Steve Rogers were the body, and the blue eyes. But there were other men with similar physiques, so it was an unreliable identifying trait at best. The Captain was not the only tall and strong young man in the world after all.

The disguise he was wearing would have fooled almost anyone, himself included. It was unexpected of a man like Rogers. But it proved he was quite capable of operating under SHIELD’s radar, if he felt inclined to, as he knew his people had not provided the cover for him. Nick would have been informed.

The long dark hair in a messy pony tail, the diamond like earring, the days old stubble (he had always seen Rogers clean shaven, including all of his war photos), and even the clothes (washed up designer jeans, an old rock band t-shirt, leather jacket, and combat boots) changed the Captain into someone else entirely. Nick had only located Rogers because of his phone’s last position.

He did not like the fact the Captain had created a cover for himself, like he had things to hide from SHIELD or the world, although perhaps he could understand it. Captain America was famous, and it made it hard for the man to have a semblance of a life outside his work for SHIELD and the Avengers. Nick knew it was not easy for Rogers to be seen in public places because he always drew a crowd.

Nick did wonder how it was that Rogers got to date someone long enough to father a child without SHIELD or anyone the wiser. He had had to have been in a steady relationship with the woman, because he knew the Captain was not a one night stand type of man. Besides there was supposed to be 24/7 surveillance around him (when not on a mission) for his protection. Hell, his appartmet was bugged, someone should have noticed.

From where they were standing, Nick saw Natasha come into the unit. A slight frown appeared on her face as she immediately took notice of the number of SHIELD agents around. He brought fifteen, although thankfully not the STRIKE team, to drag Rogers back to Headquarters. Nick admitted it was not one of his best ideas once he realized where the Captain actually was; a hospital and their NICU.

He had told Black Widow they were coming to drag Rogers back to Headquarters if necessary, since he was refusing to report. It was not an unheard of situation, as Steve Rogers had disobeyed his commanding officers before. But not since before he went down into the ice in 1945.

Natasha looked a bit confused once her quick visual scan did not reveal Rogers, the frown deepening when she saw him speaking with… Grant, the Cap’s alter ego. She actually looked so surprised when she finally realized who the man with him was, that she gaped for a few seconds. Nick had not thought Natasha capable of it.

At his signal she kept her distance, but remained alert. Stationing herself where she could observe the goings on in the area, and who came or went, she spared several discreete glances their way. She also marked each and everyone of the suit wearing men and women in the area. They were clearly bodyguards to one of the patients, and armed.

* * *

“My private life is not any of SHIELD’s business, or anyone else’s… Director,” Steve told him coldly arms crossed over his chest.

“It is when I personally recruited you for SHIELD and the Avengers Initiative, and you just inform me of some very disturbing facts.” Which he had actually had Agent Hill corroborate.

Nick had been astounded to see how badly they had mishandled Rogers, practically since the moment he first regained consciousness in this century. Agent Manning was the handler assigned to Rogers from the start, Romanoff, and Barton were included later since Coulson had to remain ‘dead’ to them.

Manning had had an excellent work record handling other agents, and was deemed capable of working with three of their most important assets. Nick did not know why, or under whose orders had he neglected Captain America; so he set Agent Hill loose on Manning before leaving the Triskelion, she would find what was going on, who else was involved, and if Romanoff and Barton were equally mishandled.

“Deciding I need a two months break disturbs you?” He raised an eyebrow and sneered at Fury. “Even SHIELD is required to provide paid vacations to its employees once a year, and I’m not officially affiliated to SHIELD, so I can do as I please with my time.” He spared a look at Sarah’s room.

Harry was sitting besides the incubator, but facing the door apparently looking about idly, but Steve could see by the way he played with the ‘drumsticks’ he was quite alert. The kid was ready for action any second. He felt relieved.

“I was away on a mission for four and a half months, so wanting some time off is not unreasonable. Whatever you think, I am not a machine Fury.” He chose not to confirm Sarah was his daughter yet.

“You were listed as a consultant for SHIELD… Grant,” he would have used last names, but Rogers did not provide him with one and at the moment the Captain did not look inclined to tell him. “Much like Stark, and like him you should have been… compensated besides any medical attention you required; and what is this about a four months long mission…”

Steve raised an eyebrow. “You were not aware Manning sent me away on a long mission?”

“No Grant, I was not,” Nick admitted frowning, but it did explain things. “I did notice you were not around the Triskelion, but I assumed you were out on the usual short assignments, like we agreed. Ones not requiring my presence at debriefing. I only just learnt about this particular one shortly before my messages, and it seems Manning not only neglected to inform me it took longer than a few days, but actually went against my orders.”

“Your orders?” Steve asked frowning.

“Yes, whatever you might think of me, I do value my word and don’t give it lightly. I understood you position, and I gave strict orders to keep you from long undercover missions. If it was inevitable to go undercover for a short period of time, you were to always be accompanied by either Barton of Romanoff.” The captain’s eyes narrowed, and he actually looked menacing and dangerous. It was a shock, since Rogers had not been able to pull off the look with his innocent and boyish face.

“I see…” Steve said slowly.

Steve studied the Director’s face, he appeared to be telling the truth, with the man it was rather difficult to tell though. But he did seem genuinely surprised when he mentioned being away on an assigment for four months. It was becoming clear to him Manning had a hidden agenda regarding him, now he only had to find out why. In the mean time Steve decided to enlighten Fury as to what SHIELD, through Manning, had demanded of him.

“Manning, arguing these were your direct orders, sent me to Italy to infiltrate an organization who had been selling HYDRA weapons to the highest bidder. I found out they also happened to be selling drugs on the side. I initially refused, but he gave me no option but to comply or be removed as a consultant.”

“He. Sent. **YOU**. Undercover. on. **MY**. orders?” This was a shock, he knew well Rogers was no spy. But above all, Manning had clearly omitted to inform him of several important facts when he complained about Captain America going AWOL. Never mind he had actually ignored explicit orders to never send Rogers on undercover assignments.

Nick knew anything undercover for more than a couple of days was not the kind of job the Captain was good for. They both had an agreement on that. But sending him after HYDRA remnants on his own? That was a recipe for disaster, and yet, from what little he read from the reports Rogers contacts sent, the mission was labelled successful.

“Who was with you? Barton?” Nick asked hopefully for the archer would have provided assistance and guidance. He knew neither Natasha, nor any of the STRIKE teams had been involved. Black Widow would have mentioned it when he called her to help bring Rogers back to SHIELD. “Do you even speak the language?”

“ _No Barton non era con me, mi ha detto Manning questo era un lavoro da solista. Ma in ogni caso, non dovrebbe il vostro popolo hanno almeno mi ha chiesto se ho parlato italiano davanti a me di inviare qualsiasi lunga missione in Italia?_ ” |No Barton was not with me, Manning told me this was a solo job. But anyway, shouldn’t your people have at least asked me if I spoke Italian before sending me on any long mission to Italy?|

“ _Il file menzionato solo si parlava correntemente il francese, che si è appreso da uno dei vostri Howling Commandos amici. Non c'era alcuna menzione di voi di essere in grado di parlare un'altra lingua. Quando e dove hai imparato italiano?_ ” |Your file only mentioned you spoke fluent French, which you learnt from one of your Howling Commandos friends. There was no mention of you being able to speak any other language. When and where did you learn Italian?| His Italian was rusty, but he had understood Rogers, and made himself understood. “Why did you not inform those at the SSR? And what other languages do you speak?”

“No one asked.” He shrugged. “ _Viví en Brooklin durante la Gran Depression Fury. Había immigrantes por todos lados y la mayoría no hablaban Inglés. Así que ayudé a los que pude, y ellos me enseñaron su idioma. Además, aún antes del suero siempre me resultó fácil aprender otros idiomas_.” |I lived in Brooklin during the Depresion Fury. There were immigrants everywhere, and most of them did not speak English. I helped those I could, and they taught me their language. Besides, even before the serum I always found it easy to learn other languages.| “Now what other languages I speak is for me to know, and you to guess,” he told the spy not inclined to share anything else about his past.

Nick decided to change the subject perhaps some praise might help his situation, it was clear the Captain was not happy with the agency. “The Italian branch of SHIELD is quite pleased with the results of the mission… congratulations.” Rogers only nodded in response, his eyes settled on the room with the baby in the incubator and the kid who looked a lot like him. Then they travelled to another room further away. Was the child’s mother there?

“You are congratulating me for a mission you clearly had no idea I was involved in? Shouldn’t you have known Fury?” Well, he now believed it had not been the one eyed spy who wanted to run him out of SHIELD. “Do you even have ANY idea what Manning demanded of me on your name?”

While knowing the master spy had not broken their agreement made him feel slightly better, it also left him uneasy and concerned. Manning was the main problem in his case, but was he acting alone? And what other things were happening at SHIELD behind Fury’s back? Because it was clear things could happen without the Master Spy’s knowledge, and it was worrisome.

“I should have, yes, and I’m going to find why I was not consulted on this,” he informed Rogers. “I will also investigate when we went wrong with you… Grant.”

“Williams. Grant Parker Williams,” Steve conceeded that much. “You people went wrong with me from the very beginning, and I am not talking about waking in a fake 1940s hospital room with a recording of a game I attended in 1941. To me it seemed SHIELD couldn’t get rid of me fast enough Fury.

“I was left on the streets the very next day, with only the clothes on my back, a very strange phone, a plastic card, and no explanation about how to use them. Or the address to the apartment SHIELD provided for me.” He clearly stunned the one eyed spy. The next he growled as it was one of the grudges he had against them. “SHIELD has done nothing for me Fury, when even Stark got some help from you people after he flew a nuke into the portal.

“Now if you excuse me, my wife is in a coma and not expected to come out of it, my daughter was born premature, and my adopted son is doing a decent job pretending he is fine when he’s not.” With a last glare, Steve left Fury.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer:** I don’t own Harry Potter, anything related to Captain America, The Avengers, or Angry Birds. They belong to their respective owners. I am not getting any money for writing this, and expect no profit for it. What I do own are my OCs, Adelle, Dana, Damon, Sandra, Sarah, and any others that might ‘pop’ into the story every once in a while. I forgot to add one in the past chapters.
> 
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> _**Notes.-** I am very pleased with the response the story has received so far. It’s been much better than I had anticipated, since I was attempting to write into a fandom out of my comfort zone. Thanks so much for reading._
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> _I think this chapter will answer the questions about the OCs. I had not responded because it would have been a spoiler for the plot. I try to make any OC I introduce in my stories either secondary, or bit players, and so far this story is behaving the way I want it to._
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> _I have to tell you all, I won’t be updating quite as often, but I will not abandon the story. My grandmother passed away two weeks ago after being bed ridden for five years, and was very ill with a respiratory infection for a week prior to her death. Her loss hit me and my family hard. As a result my muses have been sluggish at best._
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> _I have two more chapters finished, but I don’t want to post a chapter, until I have at least the next two. At the moment I’m working on chapter seven, but it’s been slow going. Hopefully the muses will get back on track soon._
> 
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> 
> _For Esper, 09/03/1925 - 19/02/2015. I’ll finish this one for you Abue._

**Title: The Hidden Life of Steve Rogers**

**Author:** animealam/Black Dragon on the Rocks

 **Rating:** T

 **Pairing:** Steve Rogers/OFC, Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanoff, Tony/Pepper, Thor/Jane

* * *

## Chapter 04

Nick watched Rogers walk towards the room with the incubator and speak with the teenager there. The Cap gave the kid a one armed hug, which was returned and then went to the next room. Where his wife clearly was.

Wife.

Nick found it startling to discover Rogers was married, and without him knowing… But now he learnt just how much SHIELD had failed Captain America, perhaps he should not found it so surprising. The situation worried him. One or two mistakes could be passed as human errors, but so many?

Then there was also the fact Rogers supposedly had a protection detail keeping tabs on him, as he did worry for his security. Yet they had not reported anything which could have led him to believe the man had a life away from SHIELD, which he actually did have. What the hell had the agents he assigned to his protection detail been doing? Playing Angry Birds or Mahjonng on their smartphones, or twidling their thumbs?

* * *

Natasha approached him as he pondered how to proceed. Nick was clearly not wanted, but he was reluctant to leave the Captain. SHIELD had already failed him too many times. This situation must not be easy for him at all. To make things worse the cardiac monitors on Rogers wife flatlined. Clear indication the woman’s heart failed.

The nurses and doctors hurried to the room with the resucitation unit, and those inside were unceremoniously ousted from the room. Rogers looked like he might protest, but a large dark man kept a good hold on him. He was taller than the Cap, and bulkier, but probably not stronger.

A look at the teen showed him at the door looking anguished, but he did not leave the baby, and Nick realized the kid was there to protect the child. He did wonder what the boy was capable of doing if Rogers trusted him to protect the baby against highly trained SHIELD agents.

The dark man, whose face he could not see, called some orders into his radio and two of the security detail outside the ward stationed themselves in the baby’s room. They sent the teenager to Rogers. Whether to be comforted, offer comfort, or both Nick could not tell. It was then when he was able to see the man’s face and he actually groaned aloud.

“Sir?” Natasha asked in shock, Fury never betrayed anything but anger.

Natasha was also confused as to what was going on with Rogers, why was he under disguise. One she found strangely familiar, and yet she could not place where she had seen him. Then there was the question as to who were the people with him, whom he seemed to know well; specially the teenager who looked so much like Rogers when he was not disguised. Up until then, Natasha did not believe he had any friends outside his acquaitances from SHIELD.

“Could things get any worse Romanoff?” He sighed, and since it was a rhetorical question she did not answer. “The woman in that room is his wife, and she happens to be Dana Rose Williams.”

Natasha’s eyebrows did go up. The Cap was married? And she had been trying to set him up on dates? No wonder he refused, and Rogers had clearly not needed her help in finding himself a woman.

“Stark’s competition technology wise?” She asked instead. Well it had been actually the other way around. It was Stark who invaded her market once he refused to make weapons. “And Ro…”

“Williams, Grant Parker Williams.” It was better not to bring Rogers name to notice. He had uttered it one time too many in that place. The gossip rags and TV programs would have enough material for a year already just because of who the woman was. No need to add Captain America’s name to the mix.

“I did not know he was married, or suspected he was seeing someone.” Inwardly she was wondering how it was she did not know, because Natasha should have.

Steve was a terrible liar, and transparent… or so she thought. She had also been WAY off in her assessment of the type of women Steve would be interested in. Natasha had been suggesting dates for him, all young, or closer to his biological age, petite, slender, blonde, and rather soft.

Williams was in her forty’s, tall, plump, dark haired, blue eyed, and had a reputation of being hard as nails when doing business… but practically all Williams Enterprises employees were loyal to her, they adored her, and would not dream of working for anyone else. She treated them very well.

“I don’t believe anyone affiliated with SHIELD was aware of this. Dana Williams does have the technology, resources, and know how to help him keep their relationship in the dark.”

“Still… Williams is not a good liar…” she trailed off as she thought things through. “Actually, I don’t think he lied to us. He just never spoke about his private life, and if it came into a conversation he was vague, evasive, or redirected the attention to something else.” Her respect for the Captain went up a couple of notches, he did it so naturally, and innocently, Natasha did not ever suspect it.

“He can lie, as well as keep an act, and damn well from what I’ve read of the reports on his last mission. Deep undercover in Torino…” He had actually only skeemed the files as there had not been enough time to read them all. Manning had provided an overview on the mission, though he had clearly ommitted several important details.

Natasha gasped as her mind made connections between tid bits of information she had, as well as Rogers' new looks. Now she knew where, and when, she had seen that face and body. To be truthful she was having a hard time accepting they were the same man. She truly would have bet her life on Rogers being unable to do what his cover clearly did. They were complete opposites.

“That was him?” she paused to get a better look at Rogers. “Yes, I can see he was. The Bastieri case…” Fury looked at her sharply. She shrugged. “He’s so going to hate this, and it does not look good. Well, he actually did,” she admitted to herself making Fury raise an eyebrow. “But the media is going to have a field month, instead of just a field day with this once they get a good look at him.” The last she muttered to herself.

“What are you talking about Romanoff?” His mind going over the overview of the case. Why the hell was the media going to get involved? Did Rogers cause enough of a mess to have reporters on the investigation? SHIELD Italy would have mentioned it, and they did not. “He was to infiltrate Bastieri’s club, and he did that.”

“The mission was more suited to my skill set than Williams,” she told him.

Natasha did her work for SHIELD, but she liked to be informed of what was going on around her. Besides, it was not as if this particular case had not made it to the Italian news, because it had. Bastieri’s arrest had been quite public because of the drugs involved.

“Do you have any idea what kind of club Domenica Bastieri owned Sir?” She asked raising an eyebrow.

Natasha did not let it show how much it disturbed her to realize Fury had not known; that he had not been aware of just what SHIELD had asked Rogers to do. One of the handlers jobs was to make sure the operatives always got missions they were capable of pulling off without making them… uncomfortable enough to balk at the orders, or go AWOL.

Her respect for Rogers went up a few more notches. Doing what he did, and did extremely well, must have been hell on a man of the 1940s mores like the Captain. Hell it would have even been hard for some 21st century ones. Not everyone was an exhibitionist, or felt comfortable enough in their skins to dance nearly naked before a crowd of hormone driven drunk females.

“No, should I have?” Something akin to dread settled in his stomach, not that he showed it. Whatever it was, it started to make him think his belief of someone inside SHIELD having a secret agenda regarding Rogers, was more than a theory. Perhaps they wanted to run him out of the agency, but for what purpose?

“Bastieri’s Ragazzos was a male stripper club.” Nick’s one good eye almost bugged out of his face in shock.

“How do you know this Romanoff?” She was not supposed to have clearance for missions not her own handled by Manning.

“Bastieri’s arrest was quite public in Italy, although only the drugs were mentioned. A little over three months ago, Domenica Bastieri hired a new stripper, Stefano. He is called one of ‘God’s gifts to women’ by many in social networks.

“A beautiful man, an acomplished gymnast, martial artist, and dancer along with the face and to die for body. He seduced when he danced, it is like he was dancing just for you, and on top of that the man can sing quite well.

“All Stefano’s performances were recorded on video by the many women attending, as well as the club. They were posted on social networks, and the club’s website. They went viral. The club sold wallpapers, posters, and a CD of his live performances over the net.” Fury was practically gaping at hearing that.

“Women all over the world have seen Stefano dance, and most if not all female agents at SHIELD have seen the videos. I got the links sent to one of my personal e-mail accounts from at least twenty different agents, though Hill’s were the first.”

“Hill?” Fury asked astounded. His mind coming to a screeching halt at the knowledge something like those videos had circulated amongst his female agents. The fact ice queen Hill participated simply boggled the mind. “As in Maria Hill?” Romanoff nodded. “Are you really sure we are talking about the same man?” _‘And the same woman?’_ He thought shocked.

His eye was opened wide as he directed a look at Rogers. Posing as a male stripper? It must have been hell for the Captain to pull it off, and yet he did, and from Romanoff’s words he did it extremely well.

Hell, Nick knew not many of his better trained male agents would have accepted the mission; and it bore the question. Why had Rogers agreed to go through with it in the first place? Knowing the man it was a miracle the Cap had not quit SHIELD the moment Manning presented the orders to him. He thought it might actually have been offensive for Rogers.

Thinking about it, Nick did remember the rumor mill going on about one hell of a shouting match between agent Manning and Captain Rogers a few months back. They said Rogers had stormed out of the office, after breaking the door when he yanked it open, and had not been seen since. It must have been then when the Cap was told of the mission. Having this information, Nick could understand why Rogers snapped. Never mind his wife and newborn child were hospitalized.

“Oh yeah, that man over there is the stripper known as Stefano. There’s clearly so much more to… Williams than we thought, and yet, it could not have been easy for him. Uncomfortable does not even begin to describe what this mission must have made him feel Sir.” She paused then added with a mischievous smirk. “But if you ever need to convince most of SHIELDs female agents myself included -and some males as well- to do anything for you… have him perform for us.”

“Romanoff!” He glared at her.

“What? I’m not dead you know.” She paused then added thoughtfully. “Hmm… now I know why the shield in his last performance looked so familiar, and Stefano handled it amazingly well. I thought it was a very decent reproduction and he had a lot of practice, but it was probably the real thing. The suit wasn’t but then he had to tear it off.”

Nick covered his face with one hand. He really did not think he wanted to know exactly what Rogers did with the thing. Still… “He used the shield…”

He did not finish as the efforts to revive the woman stopped and she was pronounced dead. He saw Rogers' blood drain from his face, and his knees gave in. The kid, with Johnson’s help managed to keep him somewhat upright, until someone brought a chair for him to sit, and a doctor came to check on Rogers.

* * *

“Grant, when was the last time you ate?” Damon asked very concerned for the younger man. He was so pale, and the doctor said his blood pressure went down way below normal for a man of his age, physical condition, and size. This was so unlike him. He got no answer though.

“Breathe,” Harry ordered as he realized Steve was turning blue. He had caught his breath in shock, and was not really conscious of it. “Come on, take a breath.” He actually gave his new father a few hard slaps on the back which did the trick, Steve began breathing, but too fast as he tried to keep himself under control. “Let it out, cry if you need to, you really don’t have to be strong all the time.”

“Sarah…” Steve managed to choke out as he held on to Harry for all he was worth.

“The baby’s fine,” Damon reassured him. “You really don’t have to be strong kid, let go and allow us to take care of everything for you.”

A low whimper escaped Steve’s lips as he shook his head. “I can’t… I mustn’t…”

“Hey, there is no need to keep on masks,” Harry said after he cast a wand-less _Muffliato_ around them. There was no need for SHIELD’s people, or anyone else to listen to them. “Grant Williams is free to grieve his wife. He can cry as much as he needs to, he can even howl if he wants to.” Harry understood this better than most. The need to be strong, to mantain the image imposed on him. “Believe me, I’m talking from experience. You don’t need to be strong all the time. We’re family, and we’ll be strong for you.”

Harry felt the first tears begin to soak his t-shirt where Steve pressed his face against him, and the other man’s shoulders shook with the effort of keeping his sobs silent. They had only had a few short months to get to know each other before Steve had to leave on his mission, but from what time they had, Harry came to like and care for the older man. He had also seen how much he cared for Dana, how happy he was with her, and she had loved him very much.

Dana knew she might not live long past childbirth, and she had asked Harry to take care of Steve for her. Which the young wizard swore he would do, and it was not just protection because as Captain America, Steve was quite capable of protecting himself and others.

Harry agreed to be the family the older man needed to pull through. Steve had lost too much already, just as he had, more to be truthful. Harry did as much as he could for them, and it had meant asking Death for Dana to live long enough to see Steve, and for the baby to survive.

But no matter what Harry wanted, he could not save Dana. Her body would not be in a good enough condition to support her. He was the _Master of Death_ , but it did not mean he could cure all sicknesses, as there actually was a limit to his powers.

Harry had accomplished his goal, and would probably let Steve say good bye to her, but it would be a one time thing. Once they had crossed _The Veil_ it hurt the souls more than it did their loved ones to be called back to talk. Despite his pain, Steve would never want to call her back if it hurt her.

Dana had not yet crossed, Harry could see her standing besides the bed and looking at them so full of pain, as well as regret. His own eyes were full of tears, Dana had acted like a second mother to him since he arrived to the USA, and he would be forever grateful to her. He nodded to let the spirit know he saw her. As soon as Steve had a hold of himself, and they were allowed to say good bye to Dana he would let them speak for the last time.

* * *

It took a while for Steve to get a semblance of control and let Harry go, but he was looking rather lost and broken. Damon asked him again if he had eaten recently, and the answer was no. Steve had not had anything to eat in the last four days. Since the day before he destroyed the weapons manufacturing plant.

Steve had had to hide in the mountains for a couple of days before he was able to signal his contacts for an extraction. SHIELD Italy, and their authorities had been too busy with arresting Bastieri’s people.

A few of the organization members had escaped, and were hunting him to make him pay for destroying the plant and having their people arrested. When Steve was finally removed from the area, he was immediately transported to SHIELD’s airbase in DC. From there he had gone straight to his apartment, and received Adelle’s call.

Damon had a couple of his people bring orange juice for him, as well as something to eat, though Steve did protest he was not hungry. Quite understandable, but his body needed the fuel to keep going. Besides, Dana would hate to see him neglecting his health. While extremely rare, Captain America could get sick, and it had happened when he had not provided his metabolism with what it needed to work.

“Take this,” Harry offered him a vial. Dana had known Steve might refuse to eat, so she had made sure Harry had some potions with him.

“What does it do?” He asked despondently, although he did know it was a potion.

“ _Nutrient Potion_ mixed with some _Calming Draught_ , and a couple of drops of _Metabol Low 14_ ,” Harry responded.

 _Metabol Low 14_ was one of the potions Dana created to reduce Steve’s high metabolism enough to let some medicines and potions work. It also could be used in anything alcoholic to get him mildly drunk if he wanted.

Harry already had a bottle of Firewhisky with a dose of _Metabol Low 14_ waiting for Steve back home. His… father, it was odd thinking about having one when he never had a parent before, was going to need it.

“Is it safe to drink? I seem to recall you telling us potions was not your forte,” he attempted some levity. But his heart was not on it.

“They are now, I had a decent tutor these past months,” Harry informed him. Which was true.

Dana hired someone to correct his potion education. He had already taken the American equivalent of the NEWTs, and was nearly done with a Technomancy Master which Dana had been fast tracking for him. He only had to present his project and the examinations to get his title.

* * *

_At both Dana’s and Steve’s suggestion, Harry had initially tried going back to school to have the ‘normal’ childhood he did not have while growing up the first time around. Unfortunately having perfect recall (thanks to being the_ Master of Death, _as well as the Super Soldier Serum in Steve’s blood), and being more intelligent than he thought did not help him._

_The young wizard already knew most of what the Professors were teaching; and what he did not know, he only had to read the book, or be shown the spell once to learn it. Within two weeks of him being at the Salem Institute of Magical Studies, Harry was bored out of his mind._

_Boredom was never a good thing when it came to one Harry James Potter. He still had Marauder blood running through his veins after all. Poor Dana was called to the Headmistress office practically on a dayly basis, until the witch ‘politely’ suggested Harry tested out of school, and be apprenticed to anyone with a Master title on their field._

_Dana was a Master in both Technomancy and Potions, besides having dual Masters of Science in Biomchemistry, and Artificial Intelligence. For his part Damon had been a member of the elite Magical military, and had a Master in Combat. His wife, Aretha, was a Master Enchanter. So Harry had had several subjects to keep him from getting bored._

* * *

“Take it Steve,” he insisted. “It’ll help you get through the next few hours,” Harry assured him. “I’ll give you another one when this one’s effects run out.”

The baby had to stay, and Harry doubted a whole reserve of dragons could drag Steve from her side until he could take her home. The older man took the potion, drank it in one gulp, and nearly spat it out.

“God! That was the nastiest thing I’ve ever drank in my life!” Steve gagged.

“And that potion is one of the better tasting _Healing Potions_ we have,” Harry smirked.

“Seriously?” Steve asked already feeling better, and more in control of himself, though no less devastated.

“Yup. No Potions Master has found a way yet to make them taste better and still be effective, so we…” Harry shrugged, “cope as best we can.”

One of those sent to procure food arrived with a couple of pints of orange juice, one of which Steve took and drank without stopping until it was empty to wash off the taste of the potion.

“A little warning would have been appreciated,” he complained glaring at the smug teenager.

“Well next time you’ll know,” Harry smirked. “Feeling better?”

Steve passed a hand through his still long locks and sighed. “Yes and no. I mean…” he sighed again not quite sure how to explain the effects of the potion and his grief.

“It’s OK, I understand. The hurt is still there, you know it, but it’s not affecting you as much.” He had been under the effects of a _Calming Draught_ while he grieved after the war, so he knew how it felt.

“Yeah, that about sums it up.” He turned to Damon. “I remember from when my mother died there were several things I had to sign, and well…” he faltered, then took a deep breath and went on. “There are funeral arrangements to make…”

“Do not concern yourself, Sandy is taking care of them as we speak. You already signed most of what required your signature. If there is anything else, Sandy will bring the documents to you,” Damon reassured him.

Getting busy was what Sandra Castillo was doing to handle her grief. Damon had known her for over a decade, and considered her practically family. He and Dana had supported her through the loss of her parents a few years ago. That was also how they learnt getting herself busy was the way she coped with the pain of losing someone close to her. Through the years Dana had become more like an older sister to Sandy than her boss, so her death was hurting her as well.

“I just feel it should be me doing these things. It… it was always me and Bucky before the war…” He paused and asked. “How is Sandy? I know she has been with Dana a long time, and they were close; and how about you Damon? You were with her just as long.”

“We’re coping kid. This was not as… sudden for us, we knew this could be the outcome of her decision. She wanted this child so very much, for you and for herself. So we had time to prepare somewhat, though it does not make the loss any less… painful.”

“I’m sorry, if I had just been careful…” he began. When they finally got together, he had not used protection because the doctors said she could not get pregnant.

Steve knew about prophylactics, as Dana had taken it upon herself to enlighten him on the subject of birth control back when they were just friends. _‘Just in case you want to have a few fun nights,’ she said_. Dana had had way too much fun at his expense. Steve still did not know how he managed not to spontaneously combust, or end with a permanently red skull, much like his enemy back in the war.

“Stop it right there Steve,” Damon told him firmly. “This is NOT your fault. Dana was told by several doctors she could not conceive, and this was long before she met you. She believed them, and you her. It so happened they were wrong. Dana knew she night not make it if she didn’t get treated, but it was HER choice, and we could do nothing but support her. This is also not little Sarah’s fault either, as she…”

“I don’t blame my child Damon,” he interrupted the older man, and he did not. “I understand she did not ask to be born under these circumstances.”

While finding out he was a father under such circumstances was not… ideal, Steve did not regret the fact. He and Dana had spoken about adopting a child, and in fact it was one of the reasons while they agreed on adopting Harry together. To have a family, even if the subject of marriage had not been mentioned.

“Good, because the little one is going to need her Daddy’s love and care; and before you say anything, remember you are not alone. You have Junior, and us as well. Now, why don’t you wait here, and eat what Rob just brought you?”

The man was just coming out of the elevator laden with several plastic bags, enough to feed at least half the security detail, plus the Steves rather large appetite. The youngster was a growing teen, and they were usually eating machines, but Steve Jr. had eaten like a bird before he took the _Blood Adoption Potion_. Now he ate just as much as the older one did.

Robert Goldman was one of the members of his security staff which was closest to Steve. They had bonded over Kung Fu and Krav Maga lessons; he was also the one who introduced him to Parkour. Damon had sent him to get Steve a few sandwiches, burgers, or pizza, whatever he could find. It would not be the healtiest of fares, but it should do for the time being.

One of the nurses requested they moved to the waiting room as it was not allowed to bring food into the ward. Normally they did not allow so many people inside either, but they had accepted the need for Mrs. Williams security detail. Two of them could stay with the baby, but the others would have to move to the waiting room. Reluctantly they all moved out of the ward. At least they had a clear view of the entrance.

“I have a few things to take care of kids,” he told the Steves, "but I’ll be back in a moment.“ Older Steve had only nodded after he bit on a large hamburger Rob passed him.

Junior on the other hand gave him a knowing look, while his eyes darted towards the one eyed man still standing not far from the waiting room. He was too perceptive, but then the now teenager had been one of the best Aurors the British wizards had. _De-Aged_ or not, the experience was still there.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _The response to the last chapter was really great, thanks. It helped my muses overcome their lethargy, and with Chapter 7 halfway done, I've decided to post this one._
> 
> _I'm also pleased to read my work with Steve's character is not considered too OOC. I'm doing my best to keep him in character, while giving him some more background and dept. I have not read any of the comics, so my portrayal of him is from the Captain America and Avengers 1 movies, and what information I got from the Marvel Cinematic Universe Wikia._
> 
> _Age of Ultron is coming out soon (I can barely wait to see it), but I really will not include it in the story, or the Civil War arc from the comics._
> 
> _I also have to say I have no beta, and English is not my mother tongue. I use a n excellent text reading app on my iPad (where I do all of my writing) to help me work with the grammar, and it usually catches up most of my typos. Still the method is not perfect, so if you catch anything I did not, please tell me so I can correct it._
> 
> _This is probably one of the longest chapters, but I did not find a good place to break it. The following chapters might not be as long._

**Title: The Hidden Life of Steve Rogers**

**Author:** animealam/Black Dragon on the Rocks

**Rating:** T

**Pairing:** Steve Rogers/OFC, Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanoff, Tony/Pepper, Thor/Jane

* * *

## Chapter 05

Nick saw Damon Johnson, Williams' Chief of Security, approach him, after he made sure Rogers was eating. Something the Cap was practically forcing himself to do with the focus of a man on a mission. Already color was returning to his palid face.

He had actually been shocked by Rogers' breakdown. Nick knew the Cap as someone stoic who could keep himself under tight control. The man had not broken down after he 'awoke' to find himself in another century, after all. This revealed just how deep his feelings for Dana Williams went.

"Director Fury," Damon said by way of greeting. They had met on those occasions Dana had had to deal personally with SHIELD on delicate matters.

"Mister Johnson," Nick acknowledged the man, his face impassive. A small feat after all the shocks he had received so far.

"Grant Parker Williams, age 29 born July 14, 1984 in Brooklyn New York," he began unceremoniously. "His mother was Sarah Donovan, a nurse who died of pneumonia eight years ago. His father was Joseph Parker Williams. He was in the army and was killed during the Desert Storm Operation back in 1990."

Fury's eye widdened slightly at the information he provided. Dana and Adelle were anything if not thorough. They had created a fool proof background for Steve, and they had most of it ready before the Battle of New York. A few things had been added later as Steve updated his skills with the assistance of several members of Dana's security detail.

The new identity for Steve had come in handy after the Battle of New York. Too many people had seen Captain America fighting the aliens. Then his face was revealed behind the mask, after he lost it during one of the many encounters he had with the Chitauri warriors. Steve had gone on fighting, and many people had put their cell phones and cameras to good use. There were many videos and photos of him taken during the Battle.

The new identity was so carefully created, anyone would be hard pressed to discover Grant Parker Williams was truly Steven Grant Rogers. Being on the outside these past months, Dana knew about Stefano's success, and had prepared to do damage control when the mission was over. She even had a way to explain both Junior's and Grant's looks should it become necessary.

"Grant Williams was with the army for six years," Damon went on, "and now he is a SHIELD agent. He has been one at least since April 21, 2012. SHIELD assigned him to Miss Dana Williams as part of her security detail, but he was posing as her personal trainer." Fury only frowned at this new information, and said nothing. "SHIELD had him reasigned for a deep undercover mission four and a half months ago because he speaks Italian fluently, and has several dancing diplomas under his belt..."

"You know of his last mission?" He was displeased. Whether Williams was his wife or not, SHIELD's business was not to be discussed with outsiders.

"Make the SHIELD part happen Fury, the rest has been taken care of already," he demanded. "As to your question, we knew he was to pose as a stripper, nothing more.

"Who do you think worked with him to develop his initial choreographies? Who helped him choose his music, or designed his costumes? Hell, who do you think gave him the necessary confidence and encouragement to actually dance in just a tong before at least three hundred screaming women?" Damon saw Fury cringe at hearing that. Good. The Master spy had asked too much of Steve, and he should be made aware of it.

"Dana did that for him. You don't know how close he was to quit his affiliation with SHIELD because of this mission." He sighed, it was too late to worry over spilt potions. "We know he did everything to the best of his abilities, as he always does.

"I believe no one, specially him, anticipated he would be such an international success. We will do damage control on our side Fury to protect him the best we can." He glared at the one eyed meddler.

"Grant Williams is not a public figure, he'll get his fifteen minutes of fame, but that will be it." The message was clear, Steve's cover must remain intact. "Remember Director, it was SHIELD who got him into this mess, and it should be SHIELD who also deals with the fall out. He DESERVES your support in this," Damon pointed out.

"I will see it gets done," Nick agreed because he could see the sense in the 'request'.

Relationships between a high profile person with one of their bodyguards were not unheard of. Those scandals came and went with most people forgetting about them after a short while. It was only the fact Captain America was involved which made it complicated.

Rogers was held to a different kind of idealized moral conduct by the public, similar to the one in the 1940s. He was held as a paragon of all that was innocent, good, and pure. The stripper videos would do serious damage to his reputation, and perhaps credibility in certain circles. It also placed SHIELD's activities and tactics in the spot light, something he rather avoid.

Nick knew not many would approve to all the methods they used to keep the world safe. He had been able to read a bit more on the assignment, and in this mission Rogers had practically whored himself to get the information needed, before he was able to act on it. Not something the public would approve from a war hero, and the role model for the new generations.

"I'll need more information Johnson, as well as photos for his file."

"Adelle, Mrs Williams AI, has prepared a packet of information. You will receive it in your personal phone shortly." He got a sharp look from the former spy. "I believe it is better not to have such delicate information where your people can get their hands on it easily. They are sometimes too curious for their own good.

"SHIELD has failed him too many times Fury, do not fail him again. Unlike back then, Grant does have support, friends, and money now. He does not need you... ah, and do reassign the ineffectual security detail you had on him to do something more productive."

* * *

Nick left the hospital, a bit reluctantly, after the conversation with Johnson. But there were things to do back at the Triskelion, like inserting whatever information Williams' AI sent, and check what Agent Hill had obtained from questioning Manning. Hopefully she had some answers as to what exactly was going on.

He had Romanoff and Barton, who arrived not long after Natasha texted him, stay as additional protection. They were also there to provide whatever support they could for Rogers. The both of them were the closest thing to friends the Cap had in SHIELD. Neither Romanoff nor Barton were the kind of people who wore their emotions on their sleeves, but Nick had learnt to read the both of them, and the pair of assassins was clearly concerned for their team mate.

Nick decided to leave five agents, under Barton's command to keep his people from having a collective panic attack. A good number of the regular agents were terrified out of their minds of Romanoff, with good reason. She was a very demanding team leader, who did not like to be in charge of missions to start with, and did not tolerate failure.

Barton was more easy going as a leader, although no less capable, He also had more experience as part of a protection detail even if he, like Romanoff, preferred to work solo. The agents were to help keep the press from bothering Rogers and his people. The rest Nick sent back to Headquarters.

As he drove towards the Triskelion, he heard the chime informing him he had just received an e-mail in his personal phone. He left the car controls to the computer, and checked the information Williams AI sent him. It was surprisingly complete, and should not raise any flags once he managed to insert it into the servers, which might pose a problem.

Nick did not know who else was behind the situation with Rogers. Manning was obvious, but he was beginning to suspect there might be others. He was not sure who would be trustworthy enough inside SHIELD, besides Agent Hill, and he would rather not compromise her with this job. Besides, who else would be able to access SHIELD's computers, insert the information, then leave without a trace?

"Damn!" Nick swore aloud. "Stark and that AI of his are the only ones capable of inserting Rogers cover without anyone the wiser." No time for delays, Williams death would soon be leaked to the news, if it had not already been. "Computer get me a secure connection with Anthony Stark."

They needed to get ahead of the reporters, because they would want to know who Dana Williams' husband, and the father of her child, was. Nick had no hope the name would be withheld, there were always those wanting to get their five minutes of fame, or some money for providing such information.

Gossip rag reporters tended to be worse than sharks on a feeding frenzy when they smelt a good story. Dana Williams not only having a secret husband, but also 'dying' after giving birth to the mystery man's child, would be considered very juicy news. Specially when it was rumored she had sworn off romantic relationships after the last fiasco several years ago.

Reporters would be practically drooling with the news, even more than... let's say... Than if Stark actually reproduced. As much of a nightmare as that would be for Nick. The media believed a Stark heir was eventually going to happen with the billionaire's lifestyle. One day his luck would end. Although lately Virginia Potts seemed to have Stark finally somewhat domesticated.

So speculation aside, there was no doubt in Nick's mind Grant Parker Williams' name, face, and perhaps full background were going to be on the evening news. From there, it would not take a genius to link Grant Williams' face with that of the exotic dancer Stefano. Nick really hoped Williams and her AI's job was indeed good enough to throw the media off Roger's scent.

He was also beginning to be seriously concerned the scandal might draw some very unwanted attention from Congress, and the World Security Council, towards SHIELD's operations. Specially when they had a huge project underway, and which had to remain a secret to the public and most of the government until it was ready for deployment, which it was not. Nick knew at least Congress might find several of their methods, and the project itself, 'objectionable'.

Nick would need to speak with Alexander Pierce later to warn him of the problem. Although... if Stark managed to insert Williams files into the servers, he was not mentioning Captain America was involved. The fewer who knew inside SHIELD the better. At this point not even Pierce, whom Nick considered an old friend, was off the hook.

"What do you want Fury, I'm busy," Tony's disgruntled voice sounded on the speakers. He was not really busy, but Fury did not need to know that.

"A private consultation Stark, actually more of a favor for the Captain." Perhaps that would get the annoying billionaire interested.

"For the Capsicle? What's he gotten himself into?" Tony asked curiously.

"A lot of trouble. Personal as well as because of SHIELD. It's been brought to my attention someone has been trying to run the Cap out of the agency practically since we got him out of the ice. I am already investigating, but it can't be done openly in case there is more than one person involved."

"Run him out... how?" Tony asked, his tone serious for once.

Whatever it was, it did not sound good. If he was not wrong, the Capsicle had not agreed to work for SHIELD full time until after the Chitauri invasion... Actually, Rogers went on vacation (and shockingly off everyone's radar) for three weeks first before he agreed to work with Fury.

Was the Avenger´s Initiative the reason for wanting the Cap off SHIELD? Tony did know Fury included the Capsicle practically from the moment they realized he was alive under the ice covering him. He also suspected it had not taken much to convince Rogers to join them for the mess with the Tesseract.

The Cap had not been all too please with SHIELD, or Fury for that matter after they discovered the phase two weapons. Coulson's death helped them work together to become a team. But it was only as Avengers and to stop Loki and the invasion. The Capsicle had still been at odds with Fury when they went their separate ways after the Battle. So how could anyone be planning to run him out of SHIELD when the man was not even contemplating joining their ranks?

"Initially it was only by neglecting to provide him with basic things like a proper introduction to this century and IDs, then it was by not giving him the necessary training, as well as neglecting to provide him with the means to support himself..."

"Wait a second," Tony interrupted. "Are you telling me you have not been paying the Capsicle? How in hell is he supporting himself? Fuck, why is he still working for SHIELD?"

"He was supposed to receive consultation fees for each of his missions, much like you do Stark. It was my understanding he WAS getting paid, I have to track where that money went on top of everything and pay him what's owed." Was Manning the one embezzling the Cap's paycheck? If so, then clearly he had to have had help. "As to how he supports himself, he informed me it was thanks to his army pension."

"I suppose the Cap's old enough chronologically to get a pension," he mused. "But why is he still with you?" Tony insisted.

"Frankly Stark I have no fucking clue. Unfortunately since all that did not make him leave, now, well, now whoever is behind this is going for character assessination." It hurt Nick to have to admit it to the billionaire, but Stark would see this in Rogers file when he accessed the servers. He knew the genius well enough to be aware Stark would not be able to pass the chance to snoop around SHIELD's databases.

"This does not sound good for Gramps Fury. But what can they do to damage Rogers reputation? That guy's background is disgustingly pristine. Hell, I think he has never even gotten laid!"

There were rumors back in the fortys about Rogers actually being a virgin. Back in the present there was an open betting pool in Las Vegas, odds were in favor of those who believed him pure and virginal. He put a bit of money on that as well.

"You'll be surprised there is more to the Captain then we thought Stark, believe me, I was when I found out less than a couple of hours ago. As to the smirch in Rogers background, it was actually manufactured through SHIELD. The result of his latest mission to be exact."

"I see..." It definitely did not sound good. But what had SHIELD made the Capsicle do to actually damage his 'purity'. "By the way Fury, how is it someone got to do anything at SHIELD without your knowledge? Don't you spy on your spies?" He simply could not pass the oportunity to rub it in.

"Very funny Stark," he growled. "The fact is someone did get to work behind my back. I need you to do something you actually like, hack into SHIELD's main servers and insert the files I'm going to send you for one Grant Parker Williams. This must be done as seemslessly as possible," he instructed the annoyance.

JARVIS was already pulling anything there was on Grant Parker Williams, but also on Steven Grant Rogers. There was surprisingly much more for both than Tony thought. Both had driver licences, social security, bank accounts, store credit accounts, cell phones, there was satellite TV, land phones, Internet, tax information. The usual.

Then he saw Steven G. Rogers had received a rather large sum of money from the army. It was his back pay with inflation adjustments as well as interest, since he had actually been Missing In Action, and not dead all those years he spent in the ice.

The Capsicle had initially had the rank of private, but after several missions he was promoted to the rank of Captain in order to provide him with the necessary authority to lead soldiers. From private to Captain in less than four months, the rank jump would not have endeared the Cap with some of the army people.

Rogers was indeed receiving a decent pension, with all the usual benefits for veterans. It also seemed the Capsicle did have some financial sense. He had some modest investments in stock, but mostly he had bought property with his back pay. He owned an apartment in Brooklyn, plus three others in very good parts of New York City, and none had mortgages on them. All four were rented. He also owned a vintage Harley Davidson motorcycle.

Grant Williams owned a very expensive appartment in central park, and a two story house in Alexandria. He had a 2012 Land Rover LR4, and two motorcycles (another vintage Harley Davidson, and a cross country Yamaha). He had a gun permit (which Rogers also had), and a rather impressive weapons collection.

Williams had enrolled in the army at eighteen, and was an explosives specialist, as well as with electronics, and mechanics. He left at twenty-four. Williams had several Martial Arts diplomas (with the respective black belts), and diplomas for... dancing? What the hell?

No College, unlike Rogers, who was actually studying art and had almost graduated with honors when he was recruited. Williams had studied High School, spoke Irish Gaelic, French, Italian, Spanish, German, Yiddish, and Japanese fluently. He also spoke Polish, as well as Arabic, but was not fluent. He was from Brooklyn and worked as a security consultant for Williams Enterprises.

"This Williams is the Cap?" He was gaping, thankfully Fury could not see him. Unfortunately Pepper could. She actually took a photo, the traitor.

Someone had to have done this for Rogers. There was simply NO way the good Captain was capable of such detailed hacking job. Hell, did he even know how to use a computer? He had to have had help, someone who knew what they were doing. They had matched Rogers old skill set with that of Williams, and augmented it to make it more complete and contemporary with similarly trained people.

Williams skill set was rather impressive, and he supposed if they were the same man, the Capsicle had been quite busy updating his knowledge for the past year and a half. When did he have the time for it in between his work for SHIELD? The war related things could be explained as part of what he needed for SHIELD, but the languages?

One could not learn that many in such a short time frame, so he had had to have known them from before he was frozen. But only French was listed in his SSR's file; and what about the dancing? The idea simply boggled the mind, he just could not imagine the Capsicle capable of dancing salsa, jazz, or tango.

"Yes, it's the alias he has used since before the Battle of New York," Nick confirmed.

"SHIELD provided it for him?" That might explain it... although not quite, they were not that good, or thorough enough for such a detailed job.

"No, we did not." Fury sighed. "I am ashamed to admit the only things SHIELD has actually done for Rogers was thaw him," as it had been people from Stark Industries who found him, "and provide him with an appartment initially. This is a far cry from what I instructed his handler to do. We should have done more."

"This cover is way too thorough Fury, someone has to have done it for the Cap. Someone who did research ways to match the Capsicle's old skill set with the more modern versions." Tony was frowning as JARVIS showed him a few photos of a dark haired man whose facial parameters matched Rogers, they came from a few tabloids, and he was with... "Dana Williams, it was her who did this."

Tony had to admit she was thorough enough. He might not want to ever say it out loud, but Williams could give him a run for his money when it came to hacking. She was quite capable of creating such a background; to the point of using some of her connections to actually back it up should it come into question.

"Yes, Rogers met her shortly after he awoke, and it's been her who acclimated him to this century and technology. She was also his wife..."

"WHAT? The Capsicle is... was married to her? God, but... he has been awake only eighteen months. Man, Rogers works fast, I have to give him that, and there's no account for taste. I mean... Dana Williams? Really? But... that woman could be his mother... she's way older than him... biologically that is, since chronologically he's what... Ninety-four? At least he came into his senses and..." Tony ranted.

"Dana Williams died a couple hours ago after giving birth to a live but premature baby girl. His child. So research what tact is, and do apply it when you speak with Rogers. He is not taking her death well Stark."

"Well, shit," was the only thing he could say. But Tony found himself empathizing. He almost lost Pepper last year, and it was probably the worst and most painful experience of his life; and he had been through some shitty experiences in the past few years. "OK, I'll insert Williams file into your servers, anything else?" The last dripped with sarcasm, although he was sure Fury would ignore it.

"I need you to see who has accessed Timothy Manning's case files and reports, specially those where Rogers was involved. He is his handler. If Rogers last case, the Bastieri Club, has not been accessed by anyone but Agent Hill or myself, you must assign it to Williams.

"Rogers' identity was compromised with this case, but since he did an excellent job with his disguise people have not connected Captain America with the exotic dancer Stefano..."

"Oh my!" Pepper Potts voice came through as well. "That was Captain Rogers?"

Nick groaned. "Is there a woman who has not seen those videos?"

"Probably not, because even if someone has not seen them, there were a few performances where he only sang. He's very good too... the Wednesday shows if I'm not wrong..."

"Pep? How is it you know this?" Tony equired a bit suspicious. Why was his girlfriend watching male exotic dancers on the Internet? Wasn't he enough?

"The only way for someone not to have seen those videos is if they live in remote areas with no internet. They went viral you know," Pepper said helpfully ignoring Tony's question. Fury groaned again.

She was not telling either of them it was originally Natasha who sent her the links, but she also got it from her sister, her sisters-in-law, three cousins, two aunts, several girlfriends, and acquitances as well. Stefano's videos went viral, computer wallpapers, a CD with the live recordings from the shows where he sang, and even posters were sold through the Bastieri's Ragazzos website.

"Oh my God!" JARVIS had searched the Internet for Stefano's videos and played the first one for him. "I'm scarred for life! I did not need to see the Capsicle taking off his clo... Hey Pep," he protested when she hit him on the back of the head, "no need for violence! Actually... Gramps is pretty spry for a ninety-four year old guy; and man, but he can dance, and has them all eating out of the palm of his hand! How the hell did the Capsicle manage that?!"

Tony tore his eyes from the screen, because even as a man with his sexuality well defined (women were his choice), he simply could not take his eyes off the Cap. The man was incredibly good, and his presence on the stage simply demanded for people to look at him.

Rogers flirted with the crowd, and drove them wild with an allure even he could feel on video. Tony could not imagine how it must have been to see the Cap perform live, but the screaming women let him know it was pretty impressive. He would have never thought Rogers had it in him to be so... sensual he supposed.

"I can see this will not be good for Captain America." It could actually be disastrous for his reputation. "And it isn't good for SHIELD agent Grant Williams either, although it is the lesser evil because he is 'supposedly' a regular guy.

"I'm also not quite sure how SHIELD is going to come out of this. There are bound to be questions about your agency's operatives work methods." Some Washington polititians had bones to pick with SHIELD, and this situation would give them at least some ammunition against them.

"Hopefully it will not come to that Stark," Nick told the billionaire trying to be optimistic for once. "I believe once the file for Williams has been inserted and we ensure all the attention is off Rogers, we can work something out. Perhaps have agent Williams publicly resign SHIELD to take care of his family and the business."

"That might be the best option," Tony agreed. "I'll get to work on the file as soon as I get it, then I'm flying to DC with Banner. Thor is not on Earth, or I'm sure he would want to be there for the Cap, and before you protest, I'll make sure there is a plausible explanation for us knowing Williams without drawing suspicions as to him being Captain America. One last thing, does Rogers know about the videos?"

"No, as far as I know he doesn't," Nick admitted, and he was dreading whatever would happen once Rogers found out.

"Then you have my condolences Fury, and I'll even leave some flowers at your grave, because the Cap is going to kill you... and Manning for sending him there in the first place. Never mind this compromised who and what he is so thoroughly."

"And that is the problem Stark, **I** did not send Rogers there. **I** did not authorize this mission. **I** would have never authorized it.

"My instructions were actually to keep him out of any long term undercover mission; and if it was unavoidable, Rogers was never to be sent on his own, which he was. I sent you the files now, get to it Stark. Hopefully we can have this covered before the media starts digging."

"Got them, I'll be in contact," he said already working on accessing SHIELD's main servers. Tony really could not understand why they did not tighten their security, it was so easy to hack them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _There's no Steve, or Harry on this chapter, but some of the other characters are beginning to make an appearace. I'm also beginning to work on the link with the Winter Soldier's plot._


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer:** I don’t own Harry Potter, anything related to Captain America, or The Avengers. They belong to their respective owners. I am not getting any money for writing this, and expect no profit for it. What I do own are my OCs, Adelle, Dana, Damon, Sandra, Sarah, and any others that might ‘pop’ into the story every once in a while.
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> _**Author Notes.-** Thanks for all the reviews (and Kudos in AO3). They encourage the muses to keep working, and mine are going full speed ahead. I already have up to chapter nine, so at least the story will be updated weekly until I run out of chapters. Which I’m working hard not to do._
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> _English is not my mother tongue, and I have no beta, so any errors are my own. If you find any please point them out so I can correct them._
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> _This was originally a very large chapter, over 6000 words, so I decided to cut it in two. This part ended being a bit short. But there is Steve-Harry interaction, so hopefully that compensates it’s lenght._
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> _For Coulson fans, he’s making a cameo appearance in this chapter, and probably a few others, but he won’t feature too much in the story. At least as far as I have planned; my muses added a major shift to the plot I had, so who knows, maybe he will end getting a bigger role._

Steve finished eating, it was half of what he usually ate, but frankly he could not force himself to take anything else. It had tasted like saw dust to him. When he was done, Harry pulled him towards the stairs. As soon as the teen made sure there was no one around to witness the use of magic, he cast some spells in the area. At his inquiring look Harry explained.

“They are a _Silencing Charm_ , and a couple of _Wards_ to make sure we are not overheard or interrupted.”

“Romanoff and Barton are going to investigate,” Steve pointed out as he sat on one of the steps facing the clearly nervous boy. “I suspect Fury left them as some form of security detail for me, so they won’t leave me out of their sight.” Steve had not talked to either assassin yet, so he could not confirm his suspicions, but he was certain they would approach him soon.

“Nah,” Harry waved it off.

He was not a _Ward Master_ , only because he had not taken the examinations, so his protections were of above average quality and very powerful. Romanoff and Barton had no magic, they would not be able to fight off the effects of his _Wards_.

“Because of the _Wards_ , they are going to believe it’s perfectly fine for us to have a private conversation. We’re family after all, and it’s normal. Even if they manage to get close, which I really doubt, they won’t be able to hear more than an undistinguishable murmur.”

“OK,” Steve nodded knowing better than to question Harry’s abilities. He had seen, and been on the receiving end of, some of the things that boy could do; and they had been simple sparring matches. “So, what do you want to talk about that must be kept secret?” Steve was somewhat curious. The _Calming Draught_ was still working well, so he was functioning, and not incapacitated with grief as he had felt after Dana… passed away.

“I have… these abilities… which are not… normal amongst magic folk,” he began nervously. “Part of them allow me to speak with the dead amongst other things.”

Harry knew both his now adoptive parents were very open minded, and cared about him. But so had his best friends, Ron and Hermione, and his ex-girlfriend, Ginevra. At least he thought they cared. They had been close for over ten years, and been through a lot together, yet neither of them had been pleased with the abilities he gained after _Mastering the Deathly Hollows_.

He did not want them to begin with, and had Harry known what he was getting into, the young wizard would have looked for another way. Unfortunately there was nothing he could do. _Master of Death_ was a permanent title. Harry leaned on the wall opposite Steve, and slid down until he was sitting on the floor. He fidgetted with his drumsticks.

“Like in that movie where the kid says ‘I see dead people’?” He had seen it, with Stark actually, after one of the training excercises Fury requested of the Avengers. Steve leaned forward looking interested.

“Similar, but not quite. I was not born with it, it’s the result of what Dumbledore made me do to end the war. It’s also part of the reason I had to leave the _British Wizarding World_. My once best friends and my ex-girlfriend did not like the fact I have these abilities. They knew too much about what Voldemort did to make himself immortal…”

“The Soul things… _Horcruxes_ I think you called them.” His memory providing him with the details of one of the many conversations he had with Harry not long after he arrived from the United Kingdom. The youngster nodded. “You were one, weren’t you?”

“Yeah,” he passed a hand through his hair then returned to fidgetting with the wands come drumsticks. “I was one since the night I lost my parents. My frie… They” he corrected, those sons of bitches were no longer to be considered friends, “informed the press of my ‘supposedly’ Dark nature, and the fact I was going to become the next Dark Lord.

“The British wizards being the sheep they are, believed the lies they were told. I could see things were about to go pear shaped, and once again they would turn on me, so I decided running was the better part of valour.

“I had been preparing to discretely leave the _British Wizarding World_ , and start over someplace else. I was about to resign when we were called to investigate a clandestine apothecary. It was bad, and a couple of rookies committed several mistakes while handling the potions.

“The explosion happened after one of the idiots dropped several vials of potions and ingredients into a vatful of a yet unfinished but very unstable potion. I was blamed for it, charged with multiple accounts of murder, I was arrested, and accused of being the next Dark Lord on top of the other charges. I had no trial, yet they sentenced me to death.”

* * *

_Harry owed his life and second chance to Kingsley and Kreacher. The old elf was ill and dying, so he offered to take his place wearing elven_ Glamours. _Harry had not wanted to let anyone else die for him, but Kreacher told him it would not only be an honour, but kindness to let him end his pain and suffering._

_There had not been much time to think about it, as the Aurors had already arrested him, and they were not waiting long to execute him. So Harry had agreed. Everyone in the_ British Wizarding World _believed Harry James Potter died the day when he was pushed into_ The Veil, _but it was Kreacher who crossed._

_At the moment Kreacher went into _ The Veil_ Harry was arriving to Washington DC’s International Portkey arrival terminal in Dulles airport. He was _Polyjuiced_ to look like kingsley’s youngest cousin. Aretha and Damon Johnson were waiting for him._

_Kingsley had presented Harry’s situation to Aretha, and she in turn informed both Dana and Steve. Once they heard about it, and his full history (including his life with the Dursley) the pair had not hesitated in taking him in. Even when they were not a couple yet._

_The Johnsons took him to the Cabin, where Harry met Dana and Steve. He had been a mess then, but the two of them had been amazingly patient and supportive with him. They behaved like true family should, and within two months he was calling Dana Mum. Steve was away a lot because of his work for SHIELD, so Harry was still using his first name, although he was waiting for the right time to actually call him Dad._

* * *

“I’m sorry Steve, that must have been so hard for you.” Steve had not experienced that level of betrayal, and hoped he never would.

The betrayal of those he considered family was devastating on its own. But to also be betrayed by those you fought for, those you sacrificed your life for? This left you with nothing to fall back on. He and Dana had been working hard to provide Harry with new reasons to go on, and he thought they had been doing a good job. Only… Dana was gone now, and helping his new son was now going to fall on his shoulders with no backup.

“It was… still is,” Harry admitted. It had hurt him to see how people he loved so much turned their backs on him. “But anyway, while I don’t like this ability, and I promised myself to use it sparingly, I can let you and Dana speak one last time.” Steve gasped and stared at him.

“As long as she has not crossed over you can speak and see her if I’m touching you. Dana is still here. I saw her, and she won’t leave until she has said goodbye. But once she’s gone I won’t ever call her back to speak with us.”

“But you can actually call her back?” Steve sounded hopeful.

“Yes,” Harry admitted, “but it hurts the souls very much to be pulled back. It keeps them, and us as well, from moving on. This is not fair for anyone Steve, so while I can, I’m not going to do it to her and those we care about,” he told his new father firmly.

“Your parents?” He asked understanding, and a bit disappointed. Steve would have liked to speak with Dana as often as posible, with Bucky, and perhaps with his mother.

“Yeah, and my godfathers. I called them before going to meet my end…” he paused and for a moment was lost in the memory.

It was a bitter sweet memory. As he walked to the clearing in the Forbidden Forest, Harry saw and spoke with his original family, people who loved him unconditionally. Three of them had actually died for him.

After seeing Snape’s memories, and accepting he had to die, Harry had thought he was finally going to be with his family. That he would be surrounded by their love (something he had sorely needed all his life), and finally have some peace. It was not meant to be, and since then the young wizard questioned his decision to return to the _Land of the Living_.

Up until Harry met Dana and Steve, he had cursed choosing his duty, over the people who had truly loved him practically every other week. The life he had lived after the _Battle of Hogwarts_ had not seemed to be worth the effort. His eyes misted a bit, he had been truly lucky to have found Steve and Dana, but now she was gone too.

Steve knew Harry never really had the chance to deal with what he had been through. What those people did to him since he was a toddler. Harry had simply pushed it to the back of his mind and gone on like nothing happened, much like Steve himself tended to do. It was the reason why he understood him so well, and Harry him.

He crouched before his kid, and held his hands to bring him back to the present. Harry used to get lost in his mind often when he first arrived. They had not been happy memories, since even those which had originally been, were now tainted with betrayal. Harry had been getting better, and on those times he had managed to speak with Dana (through _Two Way Mirrors_ ), she reported Harry had almost stopped getting lost in his mind.

“Steve, come back kiddo.” He rubbed the boy’s hands gently to ground him with something no one had done when he lived in the _British Wizarding World_. Something only he and Dana ever did for him. “Son, you’re not in Britain anymore.” He had to repeat this several times until Harry blinked, once, then a few more times, until he focused on him. “Hey, back with me again?”

“Yeah,” Harry said his voice slightly rough. “I’m sorry… I haven’t lost myself in a while.” He looked away embarrassed.

“No need to be sorry. It’s to be expected from people who have been through as much as we have, and today has not been a good day for either of us,” Steve reassured him. Harry had pulled him back from his memories a few times, so he more than understood. “You have my back, and I have yours kiddo.”

“Yeah,” He allowed a small loopsided smile. “We’re a pair of nut cases aren’t we?”

“Absolutely,” Steve agreed with a small smile. “But we are family now, and we’ll get through,” he told him resolutely. “Do you want to go on?”

“Yes,” he took a couple of deep breaths then continued.

It was not easy to speak about it. He had only ever told Hermione, and she betrayed him by telling Ron, Ginny, the Weasley parents, McGonagall, and Kingsley at first. Then she and Ron gave a lie filled interview to Rita Skeeter, and the rest of the _British Wizarding World_ found out.

“Speaking with my loved ones who passed before me gave me the strenght to stand before Voldemort and take the _Killing Curse_.” Harry shuddered, it had not been painful, but that green light still haunted him some nights.

Harry had been too young to make such a decision, and yet he was given no other choice. Sacrificing himself for people who later betrayed him was something he had yet to come to terms with. Dana and Steve, when he had been there, had started to help. He had progressed a lot in over nine months, but there was till much he had to work through.

“It was only when I was in _Limbo_ , the place between life and death, when I learnt what calling the souls does to them.”

Harry learnt a lot more, about many subjects, and he was thankful he never mentioned it to Hermione. Although he did tell Dana and Steve. Harry knew he could trust them thanks to _Magical Oaths_ they gave him when he decided he wanted to remain with them, and be adopted. He had not even had to ask for the _Oaths_ , they had been freely given.

“I haven’t done it since. But Dana is still here, so speaking to her won’t hurt her, unless we keep her too long. Will you speak with her?”

Steve closed his eyes to fight off the tears threatening to fall down despite the _Calming Draught_. What Harry was offering was a gift, an opportunity no one else had, and a show of how much the now young teen had come to trust him.

“Yes kiddo, there is nothing more I want than to talk to Dana, even if it’s just one more time.” He stood up, and Harry followed suit.

“Good, come, let’s see if we’re allowed to say goodbye to her yet… Dad.” He had not called Steve by that word before, but he felt it was finally the right time.

His Dad smiled, and gave him a hug. They left the stair with Steve’s arm around his shoulders. It left him feeling surprisingly comforted, like for once in his life he was not truly alone.

* * *

Nick’s trip to the Triskelion had been rerouted to one of the hidden safehouses SHIELD had outside DC. One of those with holding cells, and which he and agent Hill had managed to keep off the radar for any eventuality. Like the one they were facing.

Agent Hill was anything if not efficient, one of the reasons why he had selected her as his second in command. She read the situation, probably better than he did initially, and immediately decided on getting Manning out of Headquarters. Even without questioning him, Hill believed the handler could not have been acting alone.

Not wanting to alert anyone, she lured Manning out of the Triskelion. Hill had called a favor from Coulson, who was as always the biggest Captain America fanboy in existence. He would do anything for his hero, and he would be even more ruthless if allowed to question Manning. No one hurt, or try to discredit, Captain America on his watch.

Coulson requested Manning met him at one of the many safehouses SHIELD had near DC, under some excuse or other. Hill had been waiting there with a team of their most trusted agents. Those she and he had personally recruited, and whom they could attest were loyal to them. As Stark implied, the spies on his spies.

As Nick arrived to the safehouse, a small farm house which hid a bunker under it and the barn, he saw Lola, Coulson’s beloved modified vintage car. There was no sign of his team of misfits, which was good. The less people who knew about the situation with Rogers the better. Although Nick was not sure involving Coulson was such a good idea, the man still hero worshipped Captain America.

The main entrance to the bunker was inside the barn, so Nick parked his car besides Lola, but far enough away not to scratch the paint with his car’s door. The last time there was a scratch on Lola, Phil had shot the culprit, and volunteered him as test subject (victim) for Fitz/Simmons latest creations.

“Sir,” Maria said as soon as Fury stepped out of the elevator. Besides her, Coulson echoed her greeting.

“Agents,” he gave them a small acknowledging nod. “What do you have for me Hill?”

“Not much with regards to Manning. Since we brought him in he has not said a word, but has a rather smug, condescending smile on his face. I do know he was not acting alone,” she informed her superior as they began walking towards one of the interrogation rooms.

“What leads you to draw that conclusion?” In his case it was a gut feeling, but as useful as those could be, they needed hard evidence to back them up.

“I have agents Wu and Espinoza going over the records in Accounting and Human Resources involving Captain Rogers, and agent Manning. They have found irregularities. Rogers is listed as a consultant, so Human Resources should not have been involved.

“Patricia Sutton in Human Resources had his file under heavy encription, she passed the Captain as a SHIELD employee. He’s listed as being paid the same as Romanoff and Barton. Manning is the one entering Rogers work hours… because the Captain ‘supposedly’ does not know how yet,” she scoffed.

From the Bastieri case files she had read, Rogers had actually hacked into their computers himself. This implied more than a simple knowledge of computers. He had also been submitting electronic reports since about a month after he formally started working with SHIELD. That definitely was not a person who would be unable to fill a simple database form.

“After a little under eighteen months with SHIELD?” Coulson enquired. “He might be from the past, but Captain Rogers is not a stupid man.”

“No, he’s not Coulson.” And with Dana Williams as his romantic interest, there was absolutely no way Rogers would remain technology illiterate for long. “He told me Human Resources informed him he was not under SHIELD’s employ. In his own words, ‘he was working as a volunteer because it was the right thing to do’. If Human Resources has a file on him, why would they refuse to inform the Captain?”

“It would depend on who he asks Sir,” Maria informed him. “Only someone level eight or above would be able to read it. Anyone else would not have been able to even locate the file. Sutton is level eight. As to accounting, agent Wu found Rogers is also listed as a consultant there.

“Rogers is supposedly receiving the same fees as Stark does. Which frankly Sir, you should negotiate once we have resolved this problem. Stark’s fees are astronomical, but we don’t hire him often.

“Captain Rogers on the other hand has been called for consultations at least twice per week, but usually more, since he began working for us. It’s a very large sum of money.”

“Which according to Rogers he is not receiving,” Nick pointed out. Filing Hill’s suggestion in the back of his mind, so he could revise it once the crisis was averted.

“He isn’t,” Coulson confirmed. He was not happy with what he was seeing, and what was done to Captain America. “The money from his salary, as well as the consultation fees, is deposited into nine different accounts.

“It does not remain there. From those accounts it is diverted into others, and we’re still tracking where it is going. Simmon Nash is the one in charge of the payments. He too is a level eight, and all files are encripted. The same as Sutton’s.”

“I do not like this, not at all. These are top level agents. Keep digging Hill.” She nodded. “How long can you stay Coulson before your team begins wondering where you are?”

“A week, perhaps up to two at most Sir. They needed the break anyway, so they won’t find it odd I have taken off on my own.” Hopefully they would have found out what was happening by the time he had to leave.

They had arrived to the interrogation room, and Nick stood before the mirror window observing the agent. As Hill had informed him, Manning was there looking cool as a cucumber. Like he had no better place to be at the moment, and very much like the cat who got the cream.

The man definitely knew enough, and believed he had the upper hand, or at least accomplished his mission. But what was it? Nick doubted the man knew about Rogers being married to Williams, or the fact the woman died. Would that disrupt his plans? It might actually, and perhaps they could use it to their advantage.

Manning would not be expecting Rogers to have a well established cover. The Cap had been very careful to keep his alter ego off SHIELD’s radar. He also did not get along with Manning, so he would not have confided his situation to the handler.

Nick wanted very much to know what was the agent hidding, and who he was working for. But he decided to wait before questioning him. Perhaps let him sweat a bit. He was a trained field agent, so it would not be easy to obtain information from him.

Romanoff would have been ideal to question Manning, if the man had not been her handler. The man unfortunately knew her methods well. This little fact left her compromised, and Barton was in the same boat. Perhaps allowing Rogers to have a go at Manning, while passing as his alter ego could be an option. The idea was tempting. Still, he needed to think of other ways to get Manning talking.

In the meantime Hill and Coulson were tasked with combing their servers to collect as much information as they were able to find. They would also be discretely collecting Sutton and Nash, neither of them were trained for active duty beyond learning how to use a gun. They might crack easier, and provide them with some bargaining chips.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _**Notes.-** Thanks to all who left Kudos and/or Bookmarked the story, knowing you like it and are reading gives me the incentive to keep on writing._

**Title: The Hidden Life of Steve Rogers**

**Author:** animealam/Black Dragon on the Rocks

**Rating:** T

**Pairing:** Steve Rogers/OFC, Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanoff, Tony/Pepper, Thor/Jane

* * *

## Chapter 07

Harry had placed a _Muffliato_ in the room, a _Proximity Ward_ to alert them if anyone came close enough to notice, and settled themselves with their backs to the door to keep anyone from seeing them actually speaking. It would also protect Steve’s privacy should he crumble when he spoke with Dana. He had the older man sit on the chair besides the bed, and he stood behind him, his hands on his shoulders, while Steve gripped one of them.

The conversation between Dana and Steve had initially been emotionally laden, and frankly none of them had had a dry eye during it. Those two had really come to love each other very much, and the words had been left unsaid for too long.

Steve had also come to rely on her too much to keep himself going. Dana knew it, and told him he was not alone. He had other people who cared and would be there for him. She left him a family and friends; even the Avengers. The two spies outside the room stayed not just because Fury ordered them, but because in their jaded way both cared for him.

Dana told him he should not be surprised if the other members of the team came to offer their support. In fact, Steve should expect Stark to find a way for Grant to be friends with the Avengers without screaming Captain America is Grant Williams. Adelle had a story for that as well, so perhaps they could merge both to created a better explanation.

If Steve was up to a bit of acting to separate his two identities, she left the _Time Turners_ with Harry, and he had brought them to the hospital in case they were needed. Dana believed it would be important for people to know Steve and Grant were two different persons; specially because both Harry and Sarah had the Super Soldier Serum running through their veins.

There were unscrupulous people who would want to experiment on them, and perhaps having Doctor Banner taking a look to see what he could find would be all right, but no one else. The best way they had come up with to keep both of the children safe was to have Steven Rogers, and Grant Williams be seen, and photographed together. Some video would not be amiss either if they could manage it.

Dana knew the resemblance between Grant Williams and Steve Rogers would be noticed, and they might need to justify it. She and Adelle had been working on creating a background story to explain it practically since they met him, and created his alter ego. The two of them knew it was inevitable for someone to notice how much Grant and Captain America looked alike despite the different hair colors.

After a very thorough investigation, and picking of Steve’s memories from his life before the serum, Adelle discovered no one who knew Steve before he was recruited to be part of Project Rebirth was alive. Margaret Carter was still around but suffering from alzheimer, and she had met Steve only ofter he was ‘recruited’. He first saw her at camp Lehigh.

The best way to explain Grant, was to say Steve was his great grandfather. The result of his double date the day doctor Erskine interviewed him, and approved Steve’s enrollment form. He and his ‘date’ had ‘supposedly’ celebrated he was finally recruited with too much to drink, since he was leaving for camp Lehigh the next morning, and things got carried a bit away.

His date got pregnant with his child, a girl, before Steve had taken the Super Soldier Serum. He had never known about his daughter as Steve went on a nation wide tour with the USO, then they moved to the bases in Europe. Steve had never returned from the war, so he never found out about his ‘daughter’.

His ‘supposed’ daughter had a child, another girl (Sarah Donovan), who in turn grew up to become Grant’s mother. Despite his illnesses, Steve’s genetics were actually quite good, and a surprisingly dominant trait.

The Super Soldier Serum had only cured Steve’s health problems, and enhanced as well as perfected both physically and mentally, what was already there. It was something Abraham Erskine had actually told Steve the night before the experiment. It was also on all the existing files mentioning the Super Soldier Serum.

To add credence to their story, Adelle had modified a few DNA test to reflect their familial relationship. These also included a couple from Steve Junior. As to how to explain Harry? Well, in truth Steve Rogers, and Dana Williams had indeed adopted him.

Adoption papers were sealed, and Harry’s would be until he was eighteen, at least. If someone tried to investigate, they would assume it was Dana who adopted the son of her husband from a previous relationship.

With Adelle’s help they managed to have a British birth certificate for one Steven Henry, son of Grant Parker Williams and Lillianne Evans. She had been an older exchange student from the United Kingdom with whom Grant supposedly got involved. He had been a rather precocious kid since he looked older. Lillianne Evans went back to the United Kingdom where she found she was pregnant, and married her fiance.

The boy’s mother and her husband had died in a car accident when younger Steve was only two years old. The boy was sent to live with his maternal aunt and her husband, but they did not want him, and had not been good to him throughout his childhood.

The teen had been unhappy with his relatives, and managed to hire a Private Investigator to locate his father. His adoptive father had been well off, and he left Steven a good sum of money. After they had met, and Grant saw his son’s living conditions left much to be desired, he brought junior with him. The boy had moved with them in December.

Steve could only stare in shock and wonder at the work Dana, with Adelle’s help, had gone through to create such a complete background. But he could not help but feel he was missing something. His instincts were telling him it was simply too thorough, too… convincing, and too convenient. Dana, and it seemed Harry as well, were keeping things from him.

“What are you not telling me Dana?” He asked the translucent image of his wife. He turned to face his son. “Steve?” The boy behind him sighed, but said nothing. Dana was the one who spoke.

“We aren’t hiding things from you Steve, there simply has not been a good time to inform you. Too much has happened in so little time,” she said sadly.

Dana would have liked for things to be different, for them to be able to explain things at leasure, and allow Steve to help them refine their plans. But time was up for her, and they had to depend on what Harry, Damon, and Adelle came up with.

She could only hope what they did was be enough to protect her family from the public, and those who wanted to get their hands on their children because of the Super Soldier Serum’s formula. They also had to make sure Captain America’s image remained unsullied by scandal.

“Then explain why have you gone to all this trouble to create this… convoluted background to separate both my identities. You’ve even gone so far as to suggest I break one of the laws of _Time Travel_ you were adamant I did not break in the first place!” Despite how deeply he was feeling her loss, Steve could not keep the stirrings of anger showing in his voice.

“Letting your younger self see you,” Harry muttered. It was something Hermione had been adamant they did not do back in third year. But his younger self HAD seen the older one. He had believed it was his father, James Potter, who cast the _Patronus_. Nothing bad happened then.

“Exactly,” Steve stated then looked pointedly first at Dana, then at Harry, clearly demanding an explanation.

“Well, I tested it first before we decided to use this approach,” Harry informed him, he had already suspected it would work for what they needed it to. “There was no paradox. I pretended to be my own twin, and well the universe did not end. Actually, it was awesome.” He understood why Fred and George used their ‘twin speach’ so much. It was fun to confuse people, they looked like they were watching a tennis match.

“That’s not the point Steven Henry Williams.” He felt Harry cringe. His mother always had that effect on him when she used his full name, and he knew Bucky was the same when either of his parents did it. A clear sign their parents were not happy with them, and they were in trouble. Then he managed to glare at Dana. “Why did you let him take the risk?”

He knew Harry had been an adult before, and was a very capable and powerful wizard. But they were trying to provide him with a second childhood, and letting him experience for the first time since he could remember, what it was to be under the care of responsible guardians. This meant not hurting him, putting him at risk, or allow the boy to do it himself without caring about the repercussions, as had been his new son’s wont.

“We didn’t think we had a choice Baby.” Dana sighed. She did not need to breathe anymore, so it was more of a reflex. “I called you my Sexy Thing for a reason,” and she could not help smiling wistfully when he blushed all shades of red.

It was her private endearment for him, that and Cuddle Bear, but she was not saying the last one aloud with Junior present. Poor Steve would probably die of embarrassment if it was posible. It was not a very manly endearment, but it did describe how affectionate he could be when they were alone together, or with people he felt safe with.

As to how Dana called him when they were in public, Baby, or Love were the endearments she had used. For his part Steve called her his baby doll, or his muse in private, and sweetheart in public.

When they initially met him, Steve had kept his distance, and been all prim and proper, as well as unfailingly polite. It was the way he was raised, and the norm amongst men in the 1940s. Once he truly began trusting her, Steve allowed himself to be more open.

* * *

_Steve had never really had a close friendship with a woman, and even if he had, things back then were different. People kept some distance for propiety’s sake. Then there was the fact Steve might have had a few one night stands with the women lusting after Captain America, but he had never been in a relationship before._

_He had to learn what it was to be really close to a female friend first, and how things were in the 21st century. They found out he really loved close contact, and to cuddle. Even before they became lovers, Steve discovered he liked to be held, and to hold those he cared about._

_Dana remembered well the first sign Steve gave her of his full trust. He was quite tired from one of the first missions shield assigned to him. Dana had managed to nag him into lying on the couch with his head on her lap to watch a documentary about his war. He protested, but was truly too tired, so she won in the end._

_The program was boring, and not what he expected. To her surprise, Steve fell asleep while she carded her fingers through his hair. Dana knew he could keep going without sleep for days, had seen it when she first met him. Falling asleep with her in the same room, never mind in a vulnerable position meant he felt safe with her. He had trusted her enough to let his guard down._

* * *

“Sweetheart,” Steve began only to be interrupted.

“You ARE a gorgeous man Steven Rogers, and with the right incentive you can be downright sensual.” She smiled, he looked fit to spontaneously combust. It was endearing, but it also reminded her his personal self esteem (Steve’s, not Captain America’s) was still that of the sickly little man he had been for most at his life. “You’re also a perfectionist, or as much as you’re able to be in your line of work.”

“What does this have to do with…” he started again, but Dana went on.

“Stefano Martelli was simply too good, too sensual, too sexy, too… perfect. You gave him life and made him too irresistible. Bastieri had video taken of all the ragazzos performances, specially yours, but she was not the only one. Practically all women who went to the club and saw you perform took video, uploaded them to social networks and shared it with everyone they knew.

“Stefano is called ‘One of God’s Gifts to Women’, in social media.” He was staring at her in utter shock. “Bastieri and the club made quite a bit of money merchandizing her ragazzos' image, but specially yours… well Stefano’s. They sold posters, computer wallpapers, cups, and t-shirts, amongst other things, and those came from the photo sessions all her ragazzos submitted to at least twice a week. Stefano’s became the best sellers.”

Steve’s mouth went dry, and he felt short of breath. He really hoped Dana did not mean what he thought she meant. Because if it was… it would be a horrible nightmare. “Just… how many people saw…” he could not finish. He was dreading the answer.

“The videos went viral Dad,” Harry informed him softly.

To their surprise, and his own, Steve actually threw up once he realized the implications, and he had not vomited since before the Serum. Harry had risked _Summoning_ the waste basket before they had to deal with a mess. He simply rubbed Steve’s back and offered as much silent support as he was able to project.

Harry knew his father, Steve Rogers, was a very private and shy man; unlike his version of Captain America. Who was confident, and capable of facing the press when needed. Having his nearly naked image displayed for all to see on the Internet would leave him feeling exposed, vulnerable, and perhaps even violated.

From what Harry knew of the mission, no one but those women who were present at the club were supposed to see his performances. SHIELD Italy had not been aware Bastieri recorded each show on video, or what other uses she made of the ‘modeling’ sessions all her ‘boys’ took part on at least twice a week. They had been told it was promotion for the shows.

Steve had done his job, and done it well as was the norm for him, even if he had not liked, or felt comfortable with what he was doing. He knew first hand what HYDRA weaponry was capable of. He saw soldiers vaporised after being hit by one of those blue rays they fired. No matter how difficult it had been for him, Steve could not allow those weapons to fall into the wrong hands.

But he never expected his cover would be displayed for the world to see. True, his appearance had somewhat distanced Stefano from Captain America, but… there was a good chance someone might notice the resemblance. He knew there was software used to do facial recognition, and the potions he took only made very minute changes to his features.

The reason for the changes being so small was for the times he could not take them, and just went with the darker hair color. Dana or Damon had simply cast a _Hair Color Charm_ on him. The facial recognition match would still be above 80%, enough for all hell to break loose when comparisons were made; and he was sure there would be comparisons.

As Adelle told him earlier, Captain America was held to stricter moral standards than modern men. He was this… paragon of innocence, purity, and wholesomeness to everyone. People forgot he was human, and while yes, he did have strong morals, he was not a saint and never pretended to be.

Captain America fought in a cruel and bloody war. Wars took anyone’s innocence away, and Steve was no exception. Then as Natasha would say, he had blood on his ledger, perhaps even more than she did. Back then his weapon of choice was a submachine gun, or his army regulation pistol, not the shield; and he was a very accurate shot. He really did not know how many men he had killed. In a war like the one he fought, some soldiers ended loosing count.

Those videos would tear Captain America’s reputation to shreds. The same would happen with his credibility, and all he stood for. Steve knew people would investigate, they would want to know all Captain America did as Stefano Martelli. There were things he had done to keep his cover which were bound to come to light, while the true nature of his mission might not.

The members of Bastieri’s organization were arrested under organized crime, and drug trafficking charges. There was nothing about the HYDRA weapons manufacture and trafficking leaked to the public. The people at SHIELD Italy thought it was for the best, although they did plan to discretely make a case against them for selling HYDRA weapons once the press had moved on.

Steve had kept himself away from the drugs, which were almost more common than alcohol at the club. With his metabolism he could have used them without being affected and stand out less. But he drew the line there, as well as sex with the clubs' clients, like most of the other strippers did for extra money. Not that Steve thought it would do his reputation any good. There had been drugs around and Captain America had done nothing to stop it, which in the end he had, but it took him several weeks to do so.

Besides, nearly all of the other ‘performers’ used drugs. But having no vices in that environment made him stand out, so Stefano drank too much. His metabolism kept him sober, but he got very good at pretending to be drunk. He obtained quite a bit of information this way, when people thought he was too out of it to remember. Steve had needed to keep his cover; drinking was a ‘legal’, and more socially acceptable vice.

“This cannot be happening,” Steve said through his hands as he had covered his face. Then he lowered them and faced Dana. “Why do I have the feeling this was at least partially a setup?”

“Because it probably was one,” Harry responded to what he knew had been a rhetorical question. “We concluded someone, or someones, clearly don’t want you working for SHIELD. Your handler for one, and maybe Fury.”

“Not Fury, that much I was able to determine when we spoke earlier,” Steve informed them. “He had actually ordered Manning not to send me on any solo long term undercover missions. In fact, Fury was actually not aware I was assigned this particular job.”

“Manning is the most likely culprit Love, but it does not mean he’s acting alone. Using the _Time Turner_ is truly important. Not only will it keep Captain America’s reputation clean, it will confuse the hell out of those trying to run you out.”

“Yes, I can see there is no choice if we want to avoid a major scandal, and keep Steve and Sarah from anyone wanting to get super soldiers.” He sighed and passed a hand through his hair. It seemed his acting abilities were going to be put to use again. “Although Fury does know Steve is adopted, and the fact I’m Grant Williams as well. I’m not sure I can trust him with the information.”

“We have to for the time being, as he’s already left the hospital,” Harry told them. “You could speak with him later, I’ll be there under an _Invisibility Cloak_. If you think he won’t keep the information a secret, then I’ll _Obliviate_ him. It was one of my specialties when I was still an Auror.”

“All will be well in the end Baby,” Dana reassured him. “I am certain this problem will be resolved. Trust your friends, even Fury for this. Damon spoke with him earlier, and the Director is already taking care of the problem as we speak.” She looked past them, at someone Steve could not see, but Harry did. Death was there, her son sighed sadly. “My time is over Love, and I must go.”

“No, please don’t leave yet Dana!” He pleaded his voice breaking slightly.

“I wish I could stay longer… but… this is not where I belong anymore Baby. Remember I’ll love you always Steve, and I will watch over you, Junior, and Sarah from beyond.

“Take care of each other, and don’t forget you’re family. Both of you remember being strong does not mean you should not cry if you need to. It is not a weakness. Give yourselves the time you need, but then move on. I want to see you live long and happy lives.

“Now it might look like you’ll never pull through, but you will, I have faith in both of you. Never forget there’s nothing that will make me happier than to know you moved on to live your lives fully. Both of you DESERVE it.

“You’re still young Love, don’t forget it,” then she turned to Harry, “and you better give me at least a couple of grandchildren in college before I see you this side of the _Veil_ Junior.”

Those were Dana’s last words before the orderly came to pick her body, and Steve reluctantly let the man do his job. Harry led him towards the waiting area, and reassured him Dana had already Crossed. What was left was only the exterior, and her body would be in the hospital’s morgue only until the funeral home’s people arrived.

Steve wished the funeral and burial would be something private and simple, but he knew that at least privacy was not an option. Sandy was sure to take care of the details, and would make sure things were as much like Dana and him would prefer, as was posible.

Dana was too high profile, and because of Williams Enterprises she was in contact with a lot of people. From polititians, to businessmen, and scientists; both magical and mundane. Steve also knew a very good number of her people would like to pay their respects and say good bye. She had been loved by most of her employees, because she had cared for them as well.

Much as Steve disliked the idea, there would be ample opportunity for him and his alter ego to be seen in public. He was still devastated by Dana’s loss, and he had yet to deal with the fact she had been pregnant and he had not know it, but there would be time to deal with it. It was time to protect his family and himself.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Title: The Hidden Life of Steve Rogers**
> 
> **Author:** animealam/Black Dragon on the Rocks
> 
> **Rating:** T
> 
> **Pairing:** Steve Rogers/OFC, Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanoff, Tony/Pepper, Thor/Jane
> 
> _**Notes.-** Well, this chapter came as a surprise to me. It did not go where I had originally intended the story to go. As I said, mine seem to have a mind of their own. It’s not a new idea, at least for me, since I was already experimenting with the concept in_ Two for the price of one. _It’s actually that story which highjacked my original idea for_ The Hidden Life of Steve Rogers.
> 
> _To be truthful, it’s practically impossible for me to work on just one story at a time. My muses need some distraction to avoid the dreaded writer’s block. So I’m usually jumping between stories._
> 
> _I was not sure if I should go on with the ‘imported’ idea, or try to go back to what I had originally planned. After much thought I decided, why the hell not? I haven’t read a story incorporating it the way I’m thinking of, besides my own_ (Two for the price of one), _and it did not change my original idea too much. Let’s see what you think about it._
> 
> _In the last chapter I mentioned Grant (Steve’s alias) was to be Steve’s great grandson. I was not quite happy with the idea, so after playing a bit around with the dates I decided it was feasable to skip a generation, and make Steve Grant’s grandfather instead. I’ll probably correct it in the past chapter._
> 
> _Also, Polyjuice Potion was indeed an option I considered, but having to take a dose every hour was not practical for the story. It would have been detected by some of the magical folks, as well as Clint and Natasha._
> 
> _And last, I apologize for taking so long in posting this chapter, but I was really not quite happy with it and the next one. So I decided to let them sit for a while, then go back to them and see if I could do something to like them better. This is also the longest chapter yet, to compensate for the long delay. It’s 5,633 words without notes._
> 
> * * *

**Chapter 08**

Steve was just coming out to the waiting room where Damon, his wife Aretha (who had probably arrived when he and Harry were speaking with Dana), and Sandy were waiting for them. Others had arrived as well. Marina Rodriguez, her daughters Lucia and Monica, her sons Ismael, Joaquin, and Pedro, as well as her husband Rigo. The whole family worked for Dana, and had done so for many years.

The Rodriguez family, the rest of the staff at the cabin, and the members of Dana’s closest security detail were the only ones who knew his real identity. They had insured his privacy by requesting all give him _Secrecy Oaths_ to keep the information quiet. Thanks to he _Oaths_ Steve had not needed to be ‘in character’ while at the cabin, unless they had visitors.

Katy Pearson, Hannah Rivers, and Edward Morgan, who were Dana’s closest friends had arrived as well. All three looked as devastated as he felt. They had known his wife since they were in elementary school, and considered her a sister. While the trio had been very close to Dana, they did not know who he truly was. He and Dana had not wanted to risk more people knowing the truth, than there already were.

Those three were very protective of their friend. The fact he was much younger than Dana, and came practically out of nowhere, had had them up in arms at first. It took him a lot to win them over, but he did in the end. Once they realized ‘Grant Williams’ was not after her money, and the fact he truly cared deeply about their friend, the trio welcomed him as one of them.

Walter Kemp, Dana’s second in command at Williams Enterprises, and who had already been acting as CEO behind the scenes, would be taking the post for real. Dana had wanted more time for herself, to work on her many and varied projects, for him, and later for Steve Jr., so she had delegated. Kemp had been in charge since before Steve met her. Unfortunately the man had not come alone, he brought his wife Tammy, plus a few others.

Steve had met the couple on several occasions as Grant Williams, when he passed as Dana’s personal trainer and escort. Kemp was aware Grant was dating Dana, but they had not told Mrs Kemp. Dana called the woman a gossip queen, and an addict to social media.

If Tammy Kemp had known he and Dana were dating, everyone and their uncle would have known it within hours. It was not something either of them were willing to deal with. The attention it would have brought would have been too much.

Kemp probably even knew they were married, as his girl had really worked hard to cover all bases, and make things easier for him should the worst happen. The Marriage Certificate for Dana and Grant was dated two weeks before he left for Italy on his mission for SHIELD. Her Will, where she left him and their child nearly all she owned, had been updated a couple of months ago.

With Williams Enterprises CEO, Steve saw three of the company’s Division Directors, and at least four members of the Board. He did not like the fact they were there, as Steve did not believe it was appropiate for them to be at the hospital. It would have been better if they had waited until Dana’s body had been moved to the funeral home. But he did not think there was much he could do to keep the people from dropping by.

Steve had met the Division Directors and the Board members at a couple of the few events Dana had not been able to avoid, and where he had acted as her escort for the night. It was actually quite common for Dana, when she did attend such events, to be escorted by a member of her security detail, or her friend Ed when he was in between girlfriends or wives (if Steve wasn’t wrong he was divorcing from the fourth).

Inwardly he sighed. Steve did not want to deal with all those people at the moment, or any time soon, but he knew it could not be helped. What was worse, Steve knew there would be more to come. He really did not know how he was going to manage coping with so many people when all he wanted was to lock himself in their bedroom to grieve.

His non SHIELD phone rang with a message just as Kemp and his entourage caught sight of him and Steve Junior. It gave him the excuse to get a bit of private time, because he really did not want to speak with those people. The message was from Fury, and from a number Steve did not recognize. His personal phone perhaps? Did Fury even have one?

_{Grant Williams has been a SHIELD agent since February 2011. He was assigned as Williams bodyguard on April 21 2012, and he was assigned the Bastieri case on June 1 2013}_ Steve’s eyebrows went up.

Dana told him Fury was working on doing damage control, but Steve had not been sure what the Director could have done. This probably made things better, although there was still Manning to deal with, as he was the one to assign him the mission in the first place. Steve would need to speak with Fury later to see what he had done in regards to his handler, and to get an update in the situation.

_{Tell Johnson it is done. SHIELD will respond as requested. As soon as the shit hits the fan there will be a press release about the case}_ Came another message.

_{Expect Stark and company, minus Thor, sometime today. The insertion of Williams into SHIELD is his work. You’ve seen Mission Impossible, we’ll do with these messages as they do with theirs}_

This last message puzzled Steve for a moment until he remembered. Then he chuckled, shaking his head slightly. He could bet Fury had actually been dying to write something like: _‘This message will self-destruct in five seconds’_ , so he showed them to Harry and Damon, then deleted them.

Mission Impossible (the TV series mostly, but the movies as well) had been amongst the things Fury suggested he added to the List. The one eyed spy had actually nagged at him until Steve finally watched them. They had been entertaining, but that was all. He truly would have never pegged the Director for a closet fan of the series.

Steve received another message in his personal non SHIELD phone, this one from Stark. He sighed, nothing was ever truly private in the 21st century. Steve did not wonder how either of the two men obtained his number, Stark and JARVIS would have found it with next to no trouble. Fury might have gotten it through SHIELD, but he hoped not, or obtained it through Stark, which was the better option.

_{Fury told us Grant, did some damage ctrl how r u? We’re en route to DC, ETA 1hr. Landing at the hospital’s 2nd helipad.}_ Steve sighed.

It was surprisingly comforting to know the team would be there. While as Avengers they had not done more than train, they had developed the closeness of a tight knitted unit. Which was probably what Fury had intended from the start. The rapport the Avengers had was not something Steve had managed to obtain with the STRIKE teams he usually worked with.

_{Thanks. I will be at the landing pad Tony. I am OK}_ He texted back, then turned to face Kemp and the others, only to see himself (as blond Steve Rogers) coming from the elevator.

His eyes immediately went to the time displayed on his phone. It would be important to know how many hours he would have to go back in time. Then he took notice of what his future self was wearing, jeans, a black t-shirt, his black light jacket, and his blue Supra Vaider sneakers. He would need to dress the same when he used the _Time Turner_.

All conversation died around him, as his future self made his way towards him. The look he spared to Natasha and Clint showed the both of them were actually gaping. It would have been hilarious if he had not just lost Dana. Besides him he saw Harry take his phone out, and surreptitiously take a few photos of the dumbfounded spies. He supposed they were to provide him with blackmail material later.

Harry looked him in the eyes. _< The_ Wards _at the stairs cube are still in place, although dormant. I’ll take your friends there, then follow with your older self so we can explain. Call him Grandpa, or something, remember he’s supposed to be family. >_ Harry projected to his father’s mind. _< Also, you can touch, so a manly hug, or a handshake won’t end the Universe.>_

_< OK, just be careful with Natasha and Clint, both are quite paranoid and distrustful. I don’t want you getting hurt.>_ He thought and ‘pushed’ into Harry’s mind. The kid nodded before Steve went to his future self.

“I just got the message Kid, I am so sorry for your loss.” Future Steve said looking sadddened, and worried, but not distraught. He pulled his shocked younger self into a hug. It had been beyond strange the first time he did it, since he was on the receiving end, but by now he was used to it.

“Gramps, thanks for coming.” God it was so weird to speak to himself as if it was another person, as well as giving himself a hug. To his shock it felt incredibly comforting, and put a whole new meaning to the phrase of ‘only having himself to depend on’. “I’d have sent a message sooner, but I didn’t know if you were in town.”

Future Steve pulled away enough to give him a knowing look. “It’s OK. How are you and Junior holding on? And is the baby alright?” He signalled for Junior to come closer, and also gave him a hug, which was returned with feeling. The kid was keeping himself together for him, but he was very distraught as well. They would have to talk later.

“Junior and I are as well as can be expected,” he said taking in the rest of the people gathered in the room. Kathy, Hannah, and Ed were staring at him clearly shocked he was close enough to Captain America to actually call him by what they clearly thought was a nickname. “The baby is premature but fine, we… decided to name her Sarah Rose…”

“After my mother and Dana’s?” His younger self nodded. Steve had not been sure how credible their first encounter had looked, but he was satisfied. It seemed very natural. “You didn’t have to, but thanks Grant.”

* * *

Harry approached the two gobsmacked assassins. To avoid setting them off, he had placed his wands in his jeans back pocket. Not that he needed them, he was quite capable of wand-less magic. Although it was something he only told his new parents. Very few wizards were capable of it. Harry had only seen Dumbledore, Voldemort, and Snape use it.

“Agents Romanoff and Barton,” Harry began and obtained sharp looks from both spies.

“How do you know our names?” Clint asked narrowing his eyes in suspicion. Who told the kid who they were? Not many knew them outside of SHIELD.

“Dad told me,” both agents were clearly tense and confused, which was a rather deadly combination with people on their line of work. Harry sighed. “Look, you have questions, I can answer some of them while Dad and Gramps,” the spies' eyes widdened but both managed to get their expressions under control, “manage to extricate themselves from those wishing to give their condolences.” Shame they had not visibly reacted, his Dad would have loved to see their reaction in the pensieve later, when he was better,

“He does not have children, well none as old as you,” Clint said with conviction. “It’s not possible.” The Cap had been around long enough to knock someone out and have a baby, so the little girl could be explained. But siring a teenager? Although the boy was practically a clone of the Cap, with the exception of the darker blue eyes. Still, as far as he knew, kids did not grow up that fast.

Rogers had been found and thawed less than two years ago. It was what made it difficult to understand how he had managed to hook up with someone, get hitched, and produce a kid in such a short time. The fact Rogers chose an older woman, albeit a very wealthy one, who was no beauty, was not something he would have expected from the Cap.

“He does now, I’m… Im adopted,” Harry decided to tell them. “I’m Steven Henry Williams by the way,” he offered his hand to Romanoff first.

The Black Widow was such a beautiful and enigmatic woman. Why oh why did his eyes wander towards dangerous red headed women, was it a curse or something? Had Harry still been his twenty-two year old self, he might have been interested in getting to know her and asking her out. But alas he was a kid. Such a woman was not even going to look at him once as anything more than a nuisance, her co-worker’s son, or both. Romanoff took his profered hand. Hers was a surprisingly firm hand shake. Barton shook it as well.

“Everyone calls me Junior when the old man is around.” He nodded towards Future-Steve, which was no lie, and he was sure the spies could tell.

“So… how can you explain…” Natasha asked looking pointedly at the Cap look alike, and the man Fury told them was Rogers.

She eyed the teenage boy with some suspicion. There was something about him that exclaimed danger to her, an aura she could not quite explain. But it was not only that, teenagers were awkward creatures, but the boy moved with the confidence of a seasoned agent, one used to field work. This boy had been trained.

A quick look at Clint let her know by his body language he sensed it too. They both had learnt to listen to their gut feelings, as it was what had kept them alive on so many occasions. Besides, there was something familiar about it. Something Natasha knew they had encountered before, and had not come out on top.

“Not here agents, it’s too public,” Harry whispered to the spies. “We have a secured area in the stairs cube.” He gestured towards the door at the back of the ICU ward. Their eyes briefly moved to locate the stairs' door.

“Dad is not sure whether you’re here to protect him under Fury’s orders, or as friends. I hope it’s the later for his sake. He respects you both and considers you amongst his friends. He’s strong, but he does need the support of people who care about him.” The spies spared a meaningful look between them, although Harry could not tell what it meant without using _Legilimency_. He felt it would not be a good idea to use it on them.

“If you’re only here to protect him, he’ll be alright for the time being. There should not be anything your remaining team, our security detail, he and Gramps can’t deal with if necessary.” He started towards the door without looking back, and as he expected the two assassins followed.

As soon as they entered the _Warded_ area both agents froze, their eyes a little wild, and took out their guns. They pointed them at him. That was… not good. He had underestimated the spies. Harry realized they had actually sensed the _Wards_.

At least one of them must be a Squib, and the other very sensitive to magical energies despite being a muggle. By their body language, the young wizard suspected it was Barton. Would wonders never cease? Judging from their reaction, Harry could tell they had both also encountered hostile magicals before.

“Hands up were we can see them, and away from your wand,” Clint warned.

He had sensed the magic as soon as he crossed the protections. Few knew, Natasha being one of them, he was a Squib descended from Squibs. Clint was surprisingly very sensitive to magic despite not being able to use it for more than make the most basic potions, travel through the floo, and be able to access the magical communities.

Clint stared at the kid dumbfounded. The boy smiled at them, making him look like the Cap’s clone even more, which threw him off. Why would he be pleased to find himself at gun point? He knew of _Polyjuice Potion_ , but if the boy was using it, he would have looked the same age as the Cap. Which one of those outside might be using, now that he thought about it. Could the kid be using _Glamours_?

“You know about magic, good, that saves us a LOT of time on explanations, and pesky _Oaths_.” He got a raised eyebrow from Romanoff, but nothing from Barton. “As I said, the area is secure, so we can speak freely without breaking the _International Statute of Secrecy_.”

“You were going to tell us about magic, am I right? So why worry about the _Statute_? You would have been breaking the law anyway,” Clint chose to point out.

“Well, we had agreed all Avengers would be told. Mum managed to get clearance for you all to know about magic without risking having your memories erased. You all knew about magic already, from your encounter with Loki.

“Anyway, to put you as much at ease as posible, there are two _Wards_ here. One to repell eavesdroppers, and one to make what we speak about impossible to understand to anyone who actually does manage to get close, which I doubt.”

“Convinient,” Natasha muttered more to herself than anyone else. Such a _Ward_ would be quite handy when discussing classified information in open areas.

After her encounter with some Dark Wizards working for the Russian mob a few years back, she had been informed about the existence of the Wizarding World. It had not been a good encounter, and neither was it the only one. While she knew they existed, no one had told her much about what kind of things wizards could do. Perhaps she should take a look, and see if there were things she could add to her arsenal.

“Put those away,” Harry signalled their guns with a wave of his hand. “I’m no threat to you, unless you want to harm my Dad and baby sister. Do you really want to know what Steve Rogers will do to you if you hurt his son? Besides, I’m a kid, just fourteen.” He told them, and wand-lessly activated the _Wards_.

“You say Rogers adopted you, but you look too much like him not to be related, and we knew nothing about it,” Natasha pointed out. The ‘we should have’ was left unsaid.

“People tend to underestimate my Dad because he’s a man out of his time. Let me assure you it does not mean he’s stupid, or incapable of learning and adapting. He knew the apartments SHIELD provided for him were bugged practically since he moved in, and the same about his protection detail,” He scoffed, and got raised eyebrows.

“You did not explain about your looks,” Clint pointed out.

“I’m _Blood Adopted_ , which is a magical way.” Romanoff spared a look at Barton for confirmation, who nodded. It seemed the archer had heard of it, and Harry was right, the man was a Squib. “A _Blood Adoption Potion_ changed my looks, as well as my DNA, to reflect those of my adoptive parents.

“I got Mum’s eyes, and her ears,” he could not help the small wavering of his voice. It was just like with his biological mother. He had also called Dana Mum, and she had loved it. “And well, as you can see Dad’s genes are rather dominant.”

He looked at them expectantly, and saw them trade looks that were probably whole conversations. Romanoff was reluctant to trust him, but Barton was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. The archer won, and both put away their guns. Harry breathed in relief, he was not sure he could out _Apparate_ more than one bullet.

Harry would not die, being the _Master of Death_ ensured it, but the wounds would take a while to heal, and Harry was not sure how his Dad would respond. Not after the terrible upheaval he had been through in just one day. The assassins would not fare well having to contend with two enraged versions of his Dad.

“Before you start drawing the wrong conclusions, let me tell you the two men you saw outside are the indeed the same person. Steve Rogers and Grant Williams ARE one man,” He stressed.

“But how…” Clint began.

“Mum had Adelle, her AI, monitor the Internet for any reference to Dad’s cover,” the Archer coughed something that sounded like ‘Stark’, “She was the one who coached him, and she knew Stefano Martelli’s performances were bound to draw attention. So we knew shit was going to hit the fan when the first one went viral.”

“No shit Sherlock,” Clint muttered again earning a glare from Natasha, but the kid gave him a sad grin.

Nat had showed him some of the Cap’s performances while they waited for him to leave the ICU. He had to admit to having to pick his jaw off the floor, as well as adjust his pants. Since he batted for both teams Clint certainly appreciated what he saw VERY much, unfortunately for him, Nat noticed and had enjoyed his discomfort way too much.

“We needed to do damage control and protect Steve Rogers reputation.” The assassins nodded. “Captain America is a symbol, and a role model, Grant Williams is… not a public figure, he can take the heat, as can SHIELD. What you saw was the only way Mum, Damon, and I could come up with to separate Steve Rogers from Stefano Martelli.

“I’m sure you can understand all hell would break loose if the public, and the polititians, were to discover Captain America was dancing practically in his birthday suit in front of a crowd of drunk women, half of which were probably drugged as well.

“To make things look worse, the club’s owner and her people were arrested because of drug trafficking. I don’t know what his true objective was, but I’m sure it was not it. Because, since when does SHIELD get involved in organized crime busts, and sends Captain America to deal with it? We believe someone wanted to set him up.”

The assassins stared at him thoughtfully, good. Harry felt something was not right with SHIELD, but it was only a gut feeling so far, so he could not do much about it. What little he could do was get the two spies thinking, and ensure they were on Steve’s side. He would need allies, if his hunch was correct.

Harry slid down the wall to sit on the floor, and gestured for them to find a place to sit. The archer perched on the highest step that was still under the protection of the _Wards_ , the Black Widow sat on the steps in front of him.

“You still have not explained how Rogers managed to be in two places at the same time Steven,” Natasha pointed out choosing to use the kid’s name. A teen who did not act all that much like a teenager, but then she had little experience with their kind. Not even when she had been one herself.

“Mum was a witch,” his voice hitched a little, but he took a deep breath. He could not allow himself to grieve Dana just yet, Steve needed him. “Damon and I are wizards…” Harry paused then he decided to go with the full shock value, and make a good pensieve moment. “Dad is one as well…” This memory he would share with his Dad. Both agents gaped before exclaiming in shock. It was hard not to start laughing.

“WHAT?” Natasha exclaimed, her inscrutable mask broken to reflect her astonishment and disbelief.

Rogers a wizard? That could not be! If it was true, the information would have been in his file. It would have been hidden magically from those with no clearance, but it would still have been in there. There were also no feats attributed to Captain America, as far as she knew, in which magic could have been a factor.

“No fucking way!” Clint exclaimed in disbelief. He had worked in several missions with the Cap, and not once had he seen something which might have led him to believe Rogers was a wizard.

“Hard to believe isn’t it, but he’s a wizard. Mum said Dad actually swore, much like you did agent Barton, when she told him. He had not known he was a wizard, and one with magical ancestry. For some reason no one is aware off, and which we can only speculate about, someone placed blocks on Dad’s magic when he was a baby.

“The Healer said it might be the reason why he was so sickly as a kid. Anyway, He is still catching up on his magical education.” Steve was average with transfiguration, and as much of a menace with potions as Neville had been. But hey, Steve was human and could not be good at everything. “He does know enough to use a wand, though. Unlike most of us wizard folk he did not learn to depend on magic when he was a kid, so he rarely uses it.

“Because he is a wizard, we are using a rare magical artefact Mum modified so Dad can be in two places at the same time.” It was not truly necessary for the _Time Traveller_ to be magical, but it helped in case of trouble. “We call it a _Time Turner_. It is used for _Time Travel_ , although none but the one Mum modified can go back beyond twenty-four hours. The one Dad has been using can go as far back as a week.”

“ _Time Travel_ is not posible,” Natasha stated not wanting to believe it. To her it sounded like something out of a Doctor Who episode, or a science fiction novel.

“Actually Nat, I have heard of _Time Turners_ ,” Clint confirmed. One of those would indeed explain why there were two of the Cap, albeit with different looks. “As the kid said, they are quite rare. They are also controlled by the Magical governments. How come Williams had one Rogers could use?”

“Williams Enterprises does not just operate in the mundane world agent Barton, you should know that.” The comment made the archer glare at him. “Mum had contacts within the American Bureau of Magic. Amongst magicals, she’s reknown for being a Technomancer.

“It’s the field in charge of making technology work with, or on magic by the way. She was allowed to study the _Time Turners_ , then improved them and made her own.”

“So, the Rogers who just arrived is the one from the future?” Nat asked, and the boy nodded. “How far ahead?”

“A week,” Steve responded as he entered the stairs cube. He stood straight by the door. Grant followed behind and went to Harry, then slid on the wall until he sat besides him. The assassins eyebrows went up.

There had been many people who wanter to deliver their condolences, which delayed their appearance. Most of which were shocked to discover Dana had been married to him, and had given birth to a baby girl. Steve was not sure how the rumor started, but almost everyone he talked to believed it had been only the cancer which killed her, because no one but her closest people and Kemp knew she had been pregnant.

Sandy caught up with him, and was glad Damon and Dana had explained what they were going to do, or she would have had a shock. As Damon told him, she was taking care of things in her efficient maner. Sandy had already prepared a press release, and they agreed on a conference at eight pm, in two and a half hours. He really could not believe they had been in the hospital for a good part of the day.

Nat and Clint stared at them for a moment, assessing them. Despite them being the same person, Steve had managed to project two different personalities. He stood straighter, a bit firmer and confident in his steps, more the soldier. The Captain America everyone knew.

Grant was more relaxed, more easy going. The person he truly was in private with the people who had become his family. The Avengers had only seen a little of this side of him, but with time Steve would have opened up more.

Natasha noticed the different demeanors, and ways to carry themselves. One of her eyebrows went up in surprise, then she smiled with approval. Clint had been doing the same, and gave him a grin as well as thumbs up. Their were Masters of disguise, so their approval meant a lot to Steve.

“Why a week Rogers?” Natasha enquired. The boy had said it was the limit to the _Time Travelling_ artefact.

“Because we’re telling everyone Grant Williams is my granson from a liason I had before I took the Super Soldier Serum,” he told them with a straight face and waited for Clint’s explosion. The archer didn’t disappoint.

“What the fuck?” Both versions of the Cap smirked; and it did not take Stark or Banner to figure out why they were going for a familial relationship. Clint shook his head to clear it. “I get it. You want to distract people from noticing certain expressions between Williams and Rogers are the same, besides the looks.”

“Correct,” Steve said smirking, although it did not reach his eyes. Grant and Junior smirked as well. “I can act, but there are certain expressions I haven’t had the time to train myself to avoid.”

All three looked the same, and Clint shook his head as if to clear it. “Man… men, don’t do that! It’s too weird.”

“I see it now,” Nat said slowly. “You are supposed to be family. I assume you’re telling everyone you have become close since you found out you were related?” She got two perfectly synchronized nods. Clint was right, it WAS weird, and the idiot… idiots? Knew it and were enjoying it! She huffed. “So it’s expected of Rogers to be besides Grant and the kid to offer moral support, as family ought.”

“Got it in one Romanoff.” He expected no less of her. “Now we need to explain how I got to know you both, as well as the rest of the team. I have to know the Avengers members well enough for all of them to leave what they were doing, and come to DC as close friends would do,” Grant said.

“All of us?” Clint asked frowning.

“Stark texted me. He and Banner should be here in less than an hour,” Grant informed them.

“Cap, you know what was agreed upon. Why not tell us?”

“I would rather not mess with time more than I already am Barton. _Time Turners_ are controlled for a reason,” he pointed out. “This is something Grant, and you two need to agree on.”

“It was worth a try,” Clint shrugged. “Isn’t it weird to speak to yourself like you do to another person?”

“You have NO idea,” both Steve and Grant said at the same time, making Clint groan. “You’re going to be worse than Stark aren’t you?” They gave him identical, ‘who, me?’ looks and he groaned again.

“Are you both alright?” Natasha had been observing their behavior. She knew Rogers had broken down when the woman died, she had seen it, which was something she had never expected to see. Yet Rogers, both versions of him, was behaving too… calmly. Something was up.

“No, we’re not,” Grant responded. “I have an extra-strenght _Calming Draught_ on me. The potion is dosed with something to lower my metabolism so I can feel the full effects of it.”

“I actually needed two of those, one _Draught of Peace_ , double the MBL14 dose, and a _Hangover Potion_.” Steve told them candidly. Leaving no doubt to them he was indeed a bit high on potions.

“Merlin! You’re drugged up to your eyeballs!” The young wizard shook his head. It was not good, and Harry did not like it, but he did understand Steve had to appear less affected than Grant, as well as more functional. “The bottle of firewhiskey did not have enough MBL14 to get you drunk enough to need a _Hangover Potion_ da… Gramps,” Harry corrected frowning, they could not afford him slipping. “I dosed it myself. It only had enough to help take the edge of things.”

“That one did not last me long, since I had to share it Junior.” He was not saying with whom to avoid a paradox. “Let’s just say we will need to restock the magical liquor cabinet by next week.” His son just shook his head looking disapprovingly at him.

“OK, so any ideas?” Grant asked looking at the spies, and already dreading the week awaiting him. It clearly was not going to be a good one for him if he actually overdosed on potions, and got drunk enough to need a _Hangover Potion_.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ### The Hidden Life of Steve Rogers - Ch 09
> 
> **Author:** animealam/Black Dragon on the Rocks
> 
> **Rating:** T
> 
> **Pairing:** Steve Rogers/OFC, Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanoff, Tony/Pepper, Thor/Jane
> 
> **Characters:** Steve Rogers, Harry Potter, Natasha Romanoff, Tony Stark, Clint Barton, Bruce Banner, Pepper Potts, Nick Fury, Maria Hill, Thor, Jane Foster, Cameo by Phil Coulson. Various OCs in secondary and bit parts.
> 
> * * *
> 
> _**Notes.-** Sorry about the delay guys. It’s been a few months since I last posted, but real life got in the way. Then, even though I’ve had this chapter mostly done for nearly all that time, I was not happy with it. To be truthful, I’m still not completely happy with the last part of it, but I made you wait long enough._
> 
> _A few of you commented on Steve’s behavior, him being… let’s call it a bit mischievous. You can blame it on the potions, specially week older Steve. He’s rather loopy (or high) because of them, although it does not mean he is hurting any less._
> 
> _Chapter 10 is still in its infancy, meaning there’s not much of it yet (two longish parragraphs and a lot of loose ideas), so I will not promise to update any time soon. I will try though._
> 
> _To make up for the long delay, this chapter is the longest by far (7,546 words without notes), but I simply did not find a good place to cut it._
> 
> _Also for those reading my other story **Two for the price of one** ), I had chapter 4 when I posted chapter 3, but the problem with it was that it was much telling, and no showing. It was also very long. So I set to change it, it’s progressing, and I already have chapter five, and parts of six done, but chapter 4 needs to be done first._

_I made a cover for the story, and I also wanted you all to get an idea of what Chris Evans photo inspired Grant's looks. It's in my tumblr[Animealam's Writings & Recs](http://animealam.tumblr.com/)_

 

* * *

 

Steve stood by the hospital’s helipad waiting for Stark’s helicopter to land. He had left his younger self with Natasha, Clint, and Harry. The two spies decided they better remain close to Grant as Fury instructed and act as a barrier to keep the many visitors from crowding him. The _Calming Draught_ was working, but Grant was still getting stressed. It would not be long before Harry resorted to a _Draught of Peace_ , he had needed it.

After their conversation in the stairs cube, Clint sought Damon, and they had stepped aside for a moment to decide what to do with the amount of people beginning to crowd the NICU’s waiting room. They agreed on having the hospital’s security informed, and to restrict access to anyone but the patients' relatives. Damon would take care of getting those who had arrived to leave.

Natasha too had done some damage control, and probably traumatized Tammy Kemp for life. The woman had seen Stefano’s videos, no surprise there since she seemed to live on the Internet, and her phone’s ringtone was actually a song he had performed at the club.

The club had been selling a CD with his performances on the Internet. They had been making a very good profit out of him and the other ragazzos who were members of the band; not counting the profits from selling posters, t-shirts, computer wallpapers, and other assorted merchandize. Domenica Bastieri did have a good mind for business, shame she used it for crime.

Tammy Kemp recognized him of course, and had been gossiping a storm with whomever was close. She was speculating about him, Dana, their relationship, the kids, and his motives for being with her. Most was not good. She had tried to interrogate Harry to get the ‘juicy’ tidbits of gossip, but well, his kid was not in the mood, and had been rather curt but Britishly polite.

Natasha caught her before she began using her phone to start posting their photos, and her ‘ideas’ on social media. The story Natasha fed the woman was simple, and the same Harry gave her, in accordance with the background they had created.

Grant was a SHIELD agent, and originally a member of Dana’s protection detail. He had been reassigned, and sent undercover to Italy. The details of the mission were classified because it pertained National and International Security. Natasha told Mrs Kemp to stop gossiping before she became a National Security risk.

The Black Widow’s job was to take care of dealing with people like her. Prison would be a spa stay compared to what she would do to the woman. Mrs Kemp had squeaked in terror at the threats and said no more. Natasha also casually mentioned Grant was Captain America’s grandson, and they were quite close.

Steve Rogers tended to be over-protective of his two remaining relatives, Grant and his son. He was also a very good friend of Tony Stark and the rest of the Avengers, which should be arriving soon. It was in Mrs Kemp best interest not to get on their bad side. The threats worked and the woman was quite subdued after. Steve was sure Dana would have loved to see that.

The Stark Industries' helicopter came into view, and Steve braced himself for the wind and loud noise. He had enhanced hearing, and helicopters were almost a bit too much for him, despite the noise cancelling headphones he had borrowed so he could wait outside.

The helipad was at the top of the hospital, and was used mostly to transport important people and as backup for emergencies. There was no one there, and the hospital was not expecting anyone to arrive besides Stark. This had allowed Harry to set _Wards_ inside the small reception which should allow him to speak more freely with his team mates.

The large, and surprisingly sleek helicopter landed gracefully, and Steve was surprised to see Stark had piloted it himself. He had not been aware the man knew how. For some reason it had not been in the file SHIELD had of him.

Knowing how to fly a helicopter was a useful skill to have since Stark no longer had the arc reactor in his chest, and he was still undecisive about continuing to use the Iron Man suits. An additional pilot besides Hawkeye, if Stark could fly a quinjet, would be an extra asset for the the team. Steve added the skill to his mental profile of his team members.

From the helicopter came Banner and Miss Potts, and they were followed by Stark who relinquished the aircraft’s controls to a couple of people. Probably the actual pilot and co-pilot. It was good he brought them, since the hospital staff never knew when the secondary helipad would be needed for an emergency.

The trio approached him rolling a suitcase each, which told him they were expecting to stay for a few days, although he already knew that. Still, it was comforting to know these very busy people were willing to push their work aside for him, specially Stark. They got along much better now, but they were not as close as he was to Natasha and Clint since he interacted with the both of them more often.

They looked concerned, and Steve was heartened by it. The three of them approached the reception room and stopped dead on their tracks at seeing him. It clearly shocked them to see him without his disguise. He was sure Fury informed them about his Grant persona, and that’s who they were expecting to meet. Miss Potts recovered faster, and she approached him, giving him a hug.

“I’m sorry for your loss Steve, how are you holding on?” Pepper’s voice was full of concern for him. This was also the first time she used his name and Steve’s stoic mask crumbled slightly; enough for them to see the grief in his eyes.

“I’m fin…” he was about to say fine, but he was not.

Steve should not keep the act with them, he could trust them, besides, it took too much of an effort. He considered them friends, as he did the other members of the Avengers. Keeping a composed facade had been easier with Nat and Clint, mostly Nat, because she was not emotional. Clint was not as reserved, although he was quite capable of hiding his feelings. Steve took a couple of deep breaths to compose himself.

“I’m drugged up to my eyeballs to keep functioning, which is working somewhat, or I would not be here,” Steve admitted rather candidly. Which was true, without the potions he would not have been able to present his Captain America persona.

“I thought your metabolism burned through any type of drugs fast Steve,” Bruce commented curious as he came closer and gave him a manly hug.

Bruce was very concerned, specially because the Cap had actually needed to take some drug to be functioning. He was curious as to what he used, nothing too harmful or addictive hopefully. This also revealed just how much Steve was affected by his wife’s death, which still boggled the mind.

He initially thought it had been some kind of bad taste joke when Tony told him Steve’s wife had died giving birth, and they were needed in DC. Only to learn it was no joke, so Bruced had placed his experiments on hold, and packed a suitcase in a hurry.

Steve had been awake about one and a half years. Bruce knew he was also the youngest of them all. Yet he had managed to have a relationship, and get married. He even had a kid in that short period of time. It was not only unexpected, but shocking, and he wondered why the younger man had not confided in them.

“It does. Dana…” his voice broke and his eyes filled with tears he did not let fall. Just mentioning her name hurt.

It had been a very difficult week and he had to relive it again, even if it was from another point of view. Steve turned away from them, and took a few deep breaths to collect himself.

He needed to present a strong, calm, and supportive front. Captain America was not the one married to Dana Williams. He could feel sorrow, and perhaps grieve her as a friend and a member of his family, but he could not allow himself to look as devastated as he felt. Once he was certain he had his emotions somewhat under control Steve went on.

“She created something to lower my metabolism enough for medicines to work properly. I took two extra strenght _Calming Draughts_ as well as _Draught of Peace_. So I might be a little… umm… more… talkative and… expressive than usual.”

“And these… _Calming Draught_ and _Draught of Peace_ , did she create them?” Bruce was intrigued. They sounded like something he could try to see if they helped with the Other Guy.

“No, they’ve… they’ve been around long enough. They are what you would call alternative remedies…” he told Bruce to avoid revealing magic just yet. “They taste like shit though.”

Three pairs of eyebrows went up at his use of a swear word. Specially in front of a lady. Because of the potions the filter on his mouth was not working as it should, and Steve really needed to watch what he said.

Steve could allow bad language with the Avengers, they had actually heard him swear once or twice before, and Dana’s people, he trusted them. But Captain America was not supposed to swear, at least not in public.

He had been known in the past to swear on occasion during missions when things went FUBAR, as sometimes there was no other way to express how bad things got. After all, Steve had been a poor kid from Brooklyn who spent as much time as health allowed him out on the streets, then when he grew up, he became a soldier in a terrible and bloody war. He was bound to know how to swear with the best of them.

“But I’m… I’m holding on.” He led the group inside, where they could speak without eavesdroppers.

“Capsicle I thought we were to meet Grant?” Tony asked after he gave him a quick one armed hug, and left a hand on the younger man’s arm to offer support, and perhaps a bit of comfort.

Tony had never seen Rogers looking so devastated, and he had access… well not really, but he hacked SHIELD’s mainframe. It was not like he did not do it every other week just to get a rise out of the one eyed spy, and convince him to upgrade his mainframe’s security.

Anyway, Tony had seen surveillance videos of Rogers after he was thawed, and then informed he was sixty-something years in the future. The younger man had not looked half as lost as he did at the moment. Tony could admit to being very concerned for the Capsicle.

Besides, Fury told him neither he, nor Williams people, wanted Steve as himself to be involved. Hence the secret identity. Captain America could not afford the fallout if it was found what he did during that mission. Tony had read the full reports by Rogers and the Italian agents.

The younger man did an amazing job, and Tony would not have believed him capable of it, but Rogers surprised him. Unfortunately, while very few would bat an eyelid at an unknown agent/spy doing whatever he needed to get the job done, someone like Rogers would be questioned and judged.

Captain America was held to higher moral standards than any other member of the Avengers, even Bruce who was rather monk-like. So Tony had to wonder why the Cap was there as himself, instead of in disguise as he should have been.

“You will, he’s down in the NICU’s waiting room with Natasha, and Clint…” He began but Stark interrupted, he expected it though. In fact, if Tony had not Steve would have been worried.

“What? But… I thought…” Tony was confused. “Isn’t Grant Parker Williams your alter ego?” He asked; meaning they were the same man. “So how could he be down in the NICU with the ninja assassin duo while you’re speaking with us?”

“Look, it’s… complicated,” Steve began and passed a hand through his hair, “and you will all get a full explanation, as complete as we can give it. I promise, just not today. We’ll need several hours and privacy for it, which we don’t have. It is also classified infomation only given on a strictly need to know basis.”

“And are we on this list?” Pepper asked curious. It was not often she was included, although Tony did tell her what he thought she should know. Which unfortunately more often than not was less than what she needed to know.

“Yes, you all are. Bruce, Tony, you are scientists so what I’m going to say might be difficult to accept,” he signalled for them to take a seat on one of the couches in the room. “But I need you to trust me, and have a leap of faith until we have time for explanations.”

“I can do that,” Tony said after being thoughtful. He did not trust many people, but Steve Rogers was amongst them. Bruce and Pepper nodded as they all took a seat.

“Magic is not something only Asgardians have. There are magical humans as well, and have been since the dawn of man kind.” Tony opened his mouth, probably a billion questions already in his mind. “Please, just listen. They call themselves witches and wizards, and up until the Witch Hunts and the Spanish Inquisition they lived amongst non magical humans.

“There are witches and wizards around the globe, and they have developed their own society in secret for their safety. The top people of most governments know about them, and keep it quiet. There are actually four magicals amongst the President’s personal guard at all times.

“Dana is…” he paused and had to take a deep breath, “was a witch, as is my daughter. My son is a wizard, as I am.”

“You are joking right? This is an elaborate prank, isn’t it?” Tony said voice full of disbelief. He knew magic existed because of Loki, but a whole hidden society of magic wielders living on Earth under his very nose? No, that was not posible.

“I wouldn’t joke about this Tony,” Steve informed him seriously.

He took out his wand from it’s _Obscuro_ wand holder on his left forearm, and simply transfigured a chair into a happy golden retriever. Steve had gotten rather good with his inanimate to animate transfiguration. In the scarce free time he had during the mission he practiced as much as he could. The golden retriever wagged its tail and sniffed all three of them asking to be petted. They did practically in autopilot, mouths agape.

“This is…” Bruce had no true words to describe it, because it was different from what they had seen Loki do. “Its alive, smells, and feels like a dog!”

“Behaves like one as well,” Pepper added. Her family always had dogs while she was growing up. Besides her Tony said nothing, just stared.

“It is a dog, but only temporarily. We call that an inanimate to animate transfiguration. After a while it’ll return to being a chair if I don’t turn it back.” Steve waved his wand, cancelled the transfiguration, and banished the chair back to its place showing off for their benefit.

“I’m seeing, but working on believing,” Tony finally said. “Having a magic user would have been useful when we fought Loki,” He pointed out.

“Yes it would have,” Steve agreed. “Back then, I had just found out I was a wizard, so I did not know how to use magic. As to not involving the magical world, you can blame that on SHIELD.

“Fury even had one of the most powerful and capable wizards slotted as a member of the Avengers, but he was never summoned.” Harry had been approached by the one eyed spy, and he had agreed to be a consultant, but Fury never called.

“This is as much as I’ll tell you now about magic, because we don’t have much time before Grant has to attend a press conference. Magic is the reason there are two of us, and will be for a week, perhaps more I don’t know yet. We resorted to _Time Travel_ , and I’m from a week in the future. I’m doing this because I need to make sure Grant Williams and Steve Rogers are seen together.

“As Fury no doubt told you, we need to stop any rumors of us being the same person. Someone, or someones, inside SHIELD are trying to run me out for whatever the reason. Although their attempts have not been noticeable until now. Fury says he will investigate, but in the meantime we needed to do damage control, and confuse whoever these people are.

“But I’m also doing this to protect my children more than my reputation and credibility; although I’m not going to lie. My reputation is also very important to me. My kids, Sarah and Steve, inherited the Super Soldier Serum. I… I don’t want my children to be treated like lab rats.”

“It’s understandable, no father wants that for his kids. But we did not know you had twins.” Bruce said, his mind bursting with questions about the _Time Travel_ business, but willing to give the Cap the time he needed.

“They aren’t twins, Steve is actually fourteen, a genius, and one of the most powerful wizards in existence.” Both Tony and Bruce opened their mouths to ask, and he raised a hand to halt the barrage of questions he knew they had. “Be aware magic was used for the adoption, so he is a mini-me down to having half of my DNA,” the billionaire opened his mouth to say something, but Steve raised his hand again to stop the question or comment, “yes Tony before you say anything, I did see the movie.

“The hows and whats will be explained, right now as I said, I just need for you to be open minded and trust me until there is enough time to work on explanations. By the way, no one from SHIELD knows Dana and I are magical, but after the press conference I’m sure at least Fury will.

“Also, no one, absolutely no one must know about magic. As you can probably deduct it’s one of the best kept secrets in the world. There actually are laws against revealing magic to those not authorized. I rather no one is _Obliviated_ any time soon.”

“ _Obliviated_?” Tony asked at the unfamiliar word.

“Have your memories of an event deleted. Specially trained magicals can do that. It’s normally safe for non magicals, but your mind and Bruce’s are not normal. They do… more, process more, and are never quiet. Having you loose something important is not an acceptable risk to me.”

Tony and Bruce shuddered at the thought of someone messing with their minds. They all remembered how messed up Clint had been after Loki took control of him. “Very well, we’ll trust you Capsicle,” Tony agreed. “But don’t think we’ll let you off without an explanation. Magic and _Time Travel_ , really?”

Tony had a billion questions, but he could wait. The poor man looked like he would break if they said the wrong thing. Rogers had almost crumbled with one simple question by Pepper, and the mention of Williams. He had clearly loved the woman very much. If the Cap was like this drugged up to his eyeballs with sedatives, then the one down in the NICU must be a mess… Or comatose.

“Thank you… just one more thing. I don’t expect we’ll meet with any reporters before the press conference. The hospital’s security is ensuring they keep their distance, as well as Damon Johnson’s people (he was Dana’s head of security), and the SHIELD agents Fury left. Clint’s in charge…”

“Really? Fury left Legolas in charge of something?” Tony could not help but ask, voice skeptical.

“Can you imagine Natasha in charge of anybody?” Steve countered raising an eyebrow.

“She’ll terrify the heck out of anyone,” Bruce stated, he knew probably most SHIELD agents were terrified of the Black Widow. She was also the only one who could get Tony and Clint to behave when they started acting like silly kids.

“Guess Fury had the right of it,” Tony had to agree with a shiver, echoed by Bruce as well. Natasha was way too scary for most people’s sanity. “Birdbrain is the less traumatic choice.”

“I must warn you, Natasha’s already scared Tammy Kemp into social network silence…” Steve knew both Tony and Pepper had met the woman before.

“Oh bless her!” Pepper exclaimed. She could NOT stand that woman. “I’ll take Natasha shoe and clothes shopping, and pay for anything she wants, if she can make that stick Steve.”

“Tell her Pepper, I think she’ll be interested. But… if someone does manage to breach the security, and they ask questions about why Grant Williams and I look so similar… You’re to tell everyone he’s my grandson.” All three were gaping at him, and Steve managed a smirk. That was a pensieve memory, and he was going to ask Harry to take photos.

“You would have still been under the Super Soldier Serum’s effects…” Bruce began.

“Not really. The day I was enlisted by Dr. Erskine, I had a double date with Bucky and two girls, friends of his. This is something that’s actually been mentioned before when how I was finally recruited was ever asked. So it’s documented, my date’s name was never mentioned though.

“I’m going to tell the world my date and I ‘celebrated’ my acceptance. We drank more than a bit, one thing led to another, and she ended pregnant. I ‘supposedly’ never knew because the next day I was shipped to camp Lehigh, then I went on tour with the USO, and when I was in Europe, I ended an active combatant.

“So you see, it was the runty little guy that I was who supposedly left her pregnant, not the Super Soldier Serum version of me.” All three kept gaping at him and he actually managed another amused smirk.

“Your grand son?” Tony sputtered. “I know you’re… married now… but… but… you are… you were…”

“Pure and virginal… nope as my kid would say, sorry to disappoint you Stark.” He smirked at Tony’s dumbfounded expression. “I am human Tony, and for twenty-four years of my life I was a sickly, runty punk at which no dame spared a second look, hell sometimes not even a first look.

“Then I changed into this,” his hand signalled himself, “and the dames of all ages were suddenly throwing themselves at my feet. I might sometimes be naive, but I’m not a monk, I wasn’t going to say no to getting something I never thought I would.”

“Steve I think you broke him,” Bruce chuckled seeing Tony opening an closing his mouth unable to utter a word.

Pepper slapped him on the back of the head. “Snap out of it Tony, it’s not that hard to believe. You know how that kind of attention can get to people.

“Specially someone with Steve’s history with women before the Super Soldier Serum.” She gave the young man an understanding smile. “Will you be able to pull this off Steve?” Pepper asked, as she had noticed his eyes reflected great pain despite how he tried to make things light.

“Yes, I have no choice if I want to protect Sarah and Steve, and confound whoever’s messing with me at SHIELD,” he said. “Before we go down and I introduce you to Steve Junior, I… I’ll like to thank you for coming all the way from New York. It… it really means a lot to me.”

“You’re our friend Steve, not just our leader, so of course we’d be here when you need us,” Tony told him. His words clearly moved the younger man, who gave them a rather watery smile.

Steve then took several deep breaths to center himself, closed his eyes for a moment to get into the frame of mind he needed to put his best Captain America act. He distanced himself from the pain as he could not allow it to fully show.

He had to do this to keep Sarah and Harry safe, as well as to find out who wanted him not only out of SHIELD, but discredited as well. Steve straightened his shoulders, and when he opened his eyes he looked more like himself, and the sadness in his eyes could be mistaken for concern.

“And you don’t do undercover missions?” Tony asked surprised at the visible change.

Before him was the man who had led them during the Chitauri attack, not a grief stricken widower. Tony began to see just how Steve managed to pull off Stefano Martelli, the Cap was clearly a decent actor at the very least.

“You know I just came back from four months of under cover work, and see where that led me Tony,” Steve said bitterly, then he sighed. “I dislike acting, which does not equal being unable to perform if I have to.

“To the USO I was NOT a real soldier, and my rank was certainly not Captain. That was simply the catchy name they chose for the character I had to perform.

“I was led to believe I would be doing my country a great service, but it was not what I enlisted for, or why I agreed to be experimented on,” Steve told them, his tone bordering on bitter. “To them I was simply an actor hired to portray the image they wanted me to. Someone to give hope and sell as many war bonds as posible. I even had an acting coach because I was so terrible when I began.”

“That was never mentioned in any biography, or recount from those days,” Tony commented, but he was not surprised.

“It would not have made them look good,” Pepper pointed out. “It would have been bad publicity, which at the time they probably did not need.”

Steve nodded in agreement. “They experimented on me, and then only gave me the option of being a dancing monkey, or being a lab rat. I did not even do the full lenght basic training camp before the serum, just enough to convince them I was not the kind to quit, and was the right person for the serum.

“They corrected the oversight after I rescued the 107th and the others. If Bucky had not been captured I would have probably remained their dancing monkey until the end… or gone to Hollywood.”

He got shocked looks at that comment, and he flashed them his USO smile, to which Tony snorted, Bruce shook his head, and Pepper gave him an appreciative smile. But really, the offers had been there, and they had been actually very tempting. At least the money part had been, because the fame part had never been something that interested him.

There sure was no mention about giving Captain America acting lessons so he could perform in those shows, and the few movies made in those days. They all made mental notes to watch the movies and pay attention to his acting.

“Hey Steve, I’m forgetting, do you have an excuse for how the Avengers know Grant?” Tony asked, and saw Bruce look curious as well. “We thought of saying he participated in the training excercises with us, sort of playing villain. They were all top secret, so no one besides Fury and Hill were aware what happened during them.”

“That’s the same explanation Clint, Natasha, and Grant came up with. It’s the most feasable after all. It also provides a way to explain how I ‘supposedly’ found out he was my grandson.

“We all noticed just how much he and I looked alike.” They all nodded, since it made a lot of sense. “Might I impose on you Bruce to say you performed the DNA testing? Adelle, Dana’s AI, has created several test results to back it up.”

“It’s no imposition at all Steve, I would like to have the results for my archives though, in case I’m asked for them.”

“I’ll call Adelle and have her send them to your personal e-mail later.”

“I think a pen drive would be better, no electronic trail. Just in case,” Bruce suggested. That was not information they wanted others to have access to without restriction. “I’ll destroy it after I get the files.”

“Yes, that’ll be better. I’ll give them to you tonight, when we go home. You’re staying with us,” he told them.

“We had booked hotel rooms Steve,” Pepper said. “We really don’t want to impose, and cramp your home.”

“It’s all right Pepper, and no imposition. The Cabin is… more like the manor house of a plantation. It’s a big place, quite beautiful, and peaceful. Before the mission we… we had been planning to invite you all over for a weekend.

“You were all finally cleared to learn about magic, as there are magical protections and items all over the house. We had been going steady for three months, although I met Dana on my fourth day awake. She wanted to finally meet my friends.”

“Steve, when did you get married?” Tony asked a rather huge lump on his throat. He was coming to the realization Steve would have invited them to the wedding. Or at least told them he had tied the knot.

“For real? This day,” he said since for him it was actually a week ago. He sniffled trying not to cry. “Dana… she prepared some fake certificate when she found out about Stefano’s success, and the fact that, while she’d been told by many doctors she couldn’t ever get pregnant, she was.”

“You did not know about the baby?” Bruce asked gently, and shocked. If that was what happened, no wonder he was such a mess.

“No, I had already left, and I was under radio silence. This morning was when I finally returned.” Tears did begin to fall despite the potions. “Adelle called me to inform me Dana was at the hospital about to give birth to my premature child.” His shoulders began shaking. “Because… because her cancer was back and it was now terminal.” He crumbled then, and to everyone’s surprise, it was Tony who held him.

“We got you Steve, you aren’t alone,” Tony said holding the younger man tight. He simply could not begin to comprehend just how difficult things were for him. “We got you.”

Tony just let the younger man shed as many tears as he needed and cling to him. But it did not take long for Steve to compose himself. He took a cloth handkerchief from his pocket, cleaned his face, blew his nose, then took out that stick from his sleeve and did something to his face. Whatever he did erased any signs of crying.

“I apologize… This…” He began embarrassed.

“Don’t Steve,” Bruce told him coming to his side and giving him a tight hug. “You are hurting and grieving, and have every right to express your feelings. It is good that you can.

“We… And I know I speak for all of us here, are honored you trust us enough to allow yourself to show it.” Both Pepper and Tony nodded. “As well as allow us to offer comfort.”

“I…” He was moved, but they were right. He would not have broken down if he did not trust them, if he did not consider them friends. “Thank you.”

“You have nothing to thank us for, and we’ll stay with you Steve, thank you for opening your home to us,” Pepper’s own eyes were filled with tears. She knew Steve’s history, and could not help wondering when he was going to get a break.

With those words Steve offered his arm to Pepper, then turned and made his way to the NICU, the others following him thoughtfully. There was no doubt in their minds Steve was indeed drugged with something, since the man they knew was never so fortcoming with information about his life before he was frozen.

Contrary to what they all expected, Steve had been the quietest of them, and the one who took longer to start sharing about his life. Oh, he had told them some funny anecdotes from his days in the USO, and with the Commandos, but they had never suspected he was at least slightly bitter about the USO part of his history. Which he clearly was.

* * *

Tony and Bruce shared a look behind Steve’s back, as he courteously led Pepper to the elevator. This was the Captain America they had met in the helicarrier, during the Battle of New York, and for a little bit afterwards. They had also seen very slight glimpses of him during the training excercises Fury had them participate in.

But that version had not been present during the team building experiences outside combat situations. Both realized the man they had seen had been a guarded version of who Steve Rogers really was. Although at first He had initially been more closed off than a clam, and a bit standoffish.

Slowly Steve had begun to open up. When someone explained things to him which had nothing to do with the excercises. When Steve was asked for his opinion (again outside of Avenger matters), when someone included him in friendly banter, or simply began to talk to him and draw him into conversations.

Steve had started to joke, to talk a bit about himself, and being the man they had started to consider a friend. It was a shock to realize neither of them had noticed the difference between Captain America and Steve Rogers when there clearly was one. They had not been as good friends to him as they had thought, and both planned to correct that.

* * *

Tony’s mind was working at its usual speed, so it was not hard for him to start correlating a few things about Captain Steve Rogers he had not stopped to consider before. This version of Rogers was the one with which he had clashed when they first met in the helicarrier.

He was the confident, self assured leader; the super soldier, the Captain America which was presented to the world. What they had seen then was the mask, the act Steve perfected for the USO and public appearances. The one, Tony realized, Steve presented to them then because he had been uncertain of where he stood.

As his mind processed dates, Tony was shocked to realize several surprising facts about Steve. Things they all knew because they read the profile, but never took into consideration. The Capsicle was only twenty-six when he crashed the plane in the Arctic. Not only that, he was that same age biologically and mentally when Loki decided he wanted to rule the Earth since he could not rule Asgard.

Steve had been expected to unite them, and lead them, when all but Natashalie were at least ten years older than him; and even she was older, although only a year. He had to command people not used to taking orders, or working as a team. Even the ninja assassins.

Clint had trouble with authority, as he was more of a rebel than a follower, and Natasha had not been much of a team player, except with Clint, and even that was debatable.

The Cap had also been ‘awake’ for a bit over two weeks when they first met. Not nearly enough time for someone to deal with the trauma of making the ultimate sacrifice for his country, and surviving. The younger man had been certain he would die during his last mission.

Steve had actually made the conscious choice of ending his life by crashing the plane in order to save so many others. He thought he had died, only to find he survived. But it was not the joyous occasion it should have been. Steve awoke to find he had literally lost everyone and everything he had known and cared about.

The younger man HAD been a soldier during the second World War. One of the cruelest wars in the past century. Steve had fought, been injured, led, and lost men. He had killed. Enemies or not, those men had been human, someone’s sons, brothers, or husbands. It was not easy on one’s conscience, Tony knew that much, and yet, the Cap apparently took things in stride. He was not so sure it had been the case anymore.

Tony had to admire the fact Rogers had not been catatonic, or cowering in some mental ward. The Capcicle had to have balls of steel, and diamond hard determination to simply keep on going. Steve was clearly also a superb actor, and was shockingly more adaptable than anyone gave him credit for, himself included.

After his experience with the nuke and the portal, Tony could understand all the issues an experience like the one the Cap went through brought. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder anyone? Never mind whatever other issues were already part of Rogers emotional baggage, which could not be a little thing.

Tony was not sure he would have been able to cope if it had happened to him… or was Steve compartmentalizing? Whatever the case, he seemed to have done somewhat well enough for himself. Steve managed to get a girlfriend, adopt a kid, sire another, and get married even if it was in a hurry under less than ideal circumstances; and all of that while keeping SHIELD in the dark.

They had expected too much from the younger man, and as Tony told Loki that day, Steve kind of lived up to the legend. He led and did it well, and made the hard decisions even when he had not wanted to.

Thor told him how conflicted Steve had been when he had to decide whether to wait for him, or close the portal. In the end Steve chose what was best for the world even if it weighted heavily on his conscience.

Tony knew because the team had spent a couple of nights at the tower after the battle, and JARVIS had had to wake Steve from more than one nightmare before he gave up sleeping as a lost cause.

The nightmares had been about choosing to close the portal to save the city, and the world, over saving a team mate; and Tony had until then only annoyed the heck out of him, they were barely acquaintances. Yet Steve firmly believed in not leaving a man behind, annoyance or not, and he had had to leave his best friend’s body behind during the next to last mission already.

Steve had had the extra pressure of proving himself a good leader to them, and not just a good fighter, both of which he was. Tony had to give him credit where it was due, and Steve was an amazing fighter, and leader. Always looking for ways to improve. This had been on top of trying to adapt to a new world after having lost everything less than a month prior to that, at least in his mind.

Tony realized the younger man was actually still trying to prove himself to them during the training excercises, but to a lesser degree. It was perhaps why Steve had not opened up as much as he might have if they had been just friends; and yet he had just told them he had wanted them to meet his girlfriend and his adoptive son.

They had earned his trust, but above all they had made the transition from team mates to friends as well. Finally seeing where the Cap was coming from was eye opening for Tony. Humbling as well, because he really was not sure he could have been able to do what the youngest of them had. Frankly he doubted any of the others could have either.

It shocked Tony to realize he was feeling true admiration for Steve Rogers, as opposed to the admiration he had for Captain America when he was young… until Howard turned it to jealousy. Which he was over now, because much as he had hated the tone of admiration in Howard’s voice when he spoke about Captain America, Tony had been able to see his father had been shockingly right.

But it seemed Howard forgot to speak about the person behind Captain America. Steve Rogers was clearly much more than the symbol. He was strong, stubborn, and determined as expected of Captain America. Underneath though Steve Rogers was rather shy and quiet until he knew the person.

He could snark up par with him and Clint at times. Steve had a sense of humor, had actually played a couple of successful pranks on him and Clint. Which they would not have found the culprit off if it was not for JARVIS.

Steve was a very good listener, even on the phone or video chats. He somehow always managed to help him and Bruce get unstuck when they reached blocks with their ideas or research. Steve let them ramble, then asked questions… actually he had a penchant for asking just the right questions.

Steve was obviously smarter and more knowledgeable than they all gave him credit for; and Tony was an insensitive idiot for not noticing it. But then Steve was too modest to point it out.

The man had a usually well hidden temper as well. Unless Tony was involved, he simply knew which buttons to push to get a rise out of Steve. Not that he had done that lately. It… it did not feel right anymore.

As they descended to the NICU’s floor, Tony felt a shocking surge of protectiveness towards the younger man, it was not unexpected though. The Avengers were starting to become a rather disfunctional family, and Steve… well, he was like their baby brother, Tony realized. Who was hurting now and needed their support.

For Tony the protectiveness began when Fury told him about what SHIELD had not done for Steve, and what they had not done either. They all had neglected him in the past. They had left the young man to his own devices without a care of how he was coping after loosing everything. Hell Steve had been injured by one of the Chitauri weapons and no one offered to patch him up.

Had they been paying attention any one of them would have noticed something was not right with the way SHIELD was treating Steve, well perhaps not Bruce. They could have helped him. At least Williams had met him somehow and took care of Steve when they had all been too self absorved to remember him. She had been the one who protected him, and taught him about life in the 21st century.

Now, Williams was gone, but at least Steve was not left alone. He did have people by his side now, and a real family… although raising a baby and a teenager by himself must be daunting. But Tony would be damned if he left the younger man to muddle through things alone again.

A look at Bruce was enough to tell him his science bro’s thought processess had been following the same path as his. There was a glint of protectiveness in his eyes, which Tony suspected was reflected on his own. A brief exchange of glances with Pepper showed she too was in the same frequency.

They would provide as much emotional support as Steve allowed them to. They would also work at finding who was trying to discredit him, behind the scenes of course, and Tony would have JARVIS contact Adelle so they could hide the fact Steve’s kids did inherit the Super Soldier Serum.

He was not sure yet, but they might need the ninja assassins assistance. Although Tony needed to be certain they were on Steve’s side, and they would not blabber to SHIELD. Not even to Fury. The doors of the elevator opened, distracting him from his train of thought. It was time to meet Grant and Steve’s adoptive son.


End file.
